Composition For Floral Painting

1. Introduction: As an artist, I know how difficult it can be to create a beautiful and balanced composition that catches the eye and draws the viewer. That's why I'm thrilled to be teaching this class on composition for floral illustration, which hopefully we will help you to bring your appendix to the next level. Hi, I'm I'm an artist and online teacher and I'm based in San ECC, Italy. In this class, we will be diving into the fundamental rules of composition, starting with the rule of thirds and the golden ratio, we will explore how these principles can be used to create dynamic and visually pleasing composition that guide the viewer's eye through the painting. And that will also give you plenty of examples. But we won't stop there. We will also delve into the rule of odds. Balance. Contrast is a focal point, how to create them and also how to create harmony. These techniques are essential to creating, creating a cohesive and engaging watercolor painting. And of course, we will discuss which mistakes to avoid when it comes to composition and explore are breaking the rules can sometimes lead to the most exciting and unique paintings. I will also give you some practical examples of how I go about creating my compositions. Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced artists. This class is designed to give you lots of tips and techniques on the art of composition for floral illustration. By the end of this class, you will have acquired skills and techniques that you can apply not only to floral compositions, but also to your future paintings. So if you're ready, let's get started. 2. Class Project: As a project for this class, I thought I'd give you a composition challenge. You will create either a line drawing or a finished watercolor painting, if you like, which showcases your understanding of all the rules that we discussed in this class. The challenge is to create a composition that showcases at least three of the rules that we discussed in the class, hopefully even more. So you can use the golden ratio, you can use the rule of thirds, and you can show your understanding of balance, contrast, harmony, and so on. So first of all, choose your subject for the composition. So it can be one flower repeated different times in different views, or it can be a mix of flowers, e.g. then do some thumbnail sketches and test out your composition, the same as I showed you in the lessons. Then choose the composition that you like most. And you can either make a bigger, more detailed sketch and then a more refined one, or just diving into the more refined sketch. That's up to you the way you prefer to work. And then you can either carry on and paint the composition or you can just leave it as a line drawing. And then of course, don't forget to post pictures of your composition. You can post pictures of your entire process. So your thumbnail sketches, rough sketches, and then the final work, or you can just post one of these pictures. So either your thumbnail or your final composition, or even your final artwork. By posting your project in the project section, you will have the opportunity for me to give you feedback on your work as well. And you can add the feedback of your peers to what are we waiting for. Let's get to work. 3. Basics of Composition: Composition is all about arranging the elements of your artwork in a visually pleasing way. When it comes to Florida illustration, there are a few key elements to keep in mind. First of all, balance. Just like in any artwork, balance is crucial to floral illustration. You want to make sure that your flowers and other elements are arranged in a way that feels harmonious and visually appealing. One way to achieve balance is by using the rule of thirds, which I will explain in another lesson. Then we have contrast. Context is another important element of composition. You want to create contrast between different elements of your artwork to add interest. And that this can be achieved through contrasting colors, textures, shapes, and sizes. One way to see contest is to take a picture of your illustration and turn it into a black and white picture. And as you can see here on the right, you can see that the mushroom in the middle is much darker. The leaves are much darker. And even the mushrooms at the back, different shades. So some of them are darker, some of them are lighter. And if you have a look at these colors, so when you look at just the colors, you can see that they look quite different. So you might think that if you use these colors in your illustration, it will have enough contrast. But if we turn these colors into black and white, then you will see that actually does not done much contrast between the four colors, except maybe a little bit this one at the end, but it's not a huge difference. So if you create an illustration with these types of colors, then the illustration won't have enough contrast and it wouldn't be that interesting. It might even be a little bit boring. So another important factor is the focal point. The focal point is basically the element that draws the viewer's eye and anchors the composition. It can be a particularly striking flower or a butterfly or another element. In this illustration here on the left, the focal point is this rose because it's a larger one and you can see the inside as well. And in this illustration on the right, the focal point is this iris because it's quite different from the other two flowers, and it's different in shape and color, and it's taller as well. Then we have flow. In a floral composition, you want to create a sense of movement and flow. And this can be achieved through the arrangement of the flowers and other elements, as well as the use of lines and curves. Then we have debt. So when you create a composition, you want to create a sense of depth in your illustration. So this can be achieved through the use of overlapping elements. E.g. here, the placement of flowers in the foreground, the background, and the use of shading and shadows. This is a very short introduction to the basics of composition for floral illustration. In this lesson, we talked about the basics of the principles. So balanced contrast, focal point flow, and depth. In the next few lessons, we're going to have a more in-depth look at all of these elements. But first, we will see what the rule of thirds and the golden ratios are. I see you in the next lesson. 4. The Rule Of Thirds: One of the most important concept in composition is the rule of thirds. This is a guideline for composing visually interesting and balanced images. It's based on the idea that if you divide your images into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, you will end up with nine equally sized rectangles. The idea is to position the most important elements of your composition at or near the points where the lines intersect. One of the most common ways to use the rule of thirds is to position the subject of your image of center. E.g. hello. If you are taking a photo of a person, you might place them on one side of the frame rather than basing them right in the center. This can create a more dynamic and visually interesting image. The Rotate can also be used, of course, to balance the elements in your composition. E.g. when painting a Florida arrangement, you might want to position the most eye-catching flower at one or the intersection of the grid, like in these examples here. And this could be the biggest, brightest flower or perhaps one with the most interesting shape or color. In this example, I placed the rows here, the biggest roles in the top-left corner. And here with the butterflies, I place this cluster of flowers with a butterfly, which you can see straight on here, again near the left, top-left corner. In this illustration. You have again here on the top-left corner, which I seem to quite like this, this corner, there is a moth and the flower. But then on the bottom right corner we also have a flower and the one with the open wings that you can see quite well. This composition, I have the two beds. So one is on the top right corner and one is on the bottom right corner. And in here, I've placed the bigger rose on the top left corner. And then there's another flower here on the bottom right corner. Keep in mind that the rule of thirds is just a guideline. And you might find that breaking the rule of thirds can lead to more interesting and dynamic composition. And I will tell you more about breaking the rules a bit later on. That being said, the rule of thirds is a good starting point for developing your composition of skills by experimenting with different placements of your subjects and other elements within the grid, you can start to develop your own unique style and voice as a visual artist. So next time you composing an image, e.g. think about using the rule of thirds as a starting point. You might just be surprised at the interesting and balanced composition that you can create. In this lesson, I explained to you what is the rule of thirds, and I've given you some examples. In the next lesson, I'll explain another type of composition, which is the golden ratio. I'll see you in the next lesson. 5. The Golden Ratio: Besides the rule of thirds, another composition used very often by artist is the golden ratio. And I'm sure you heard about, about this before, especially if you read or worse today, the Vinci Code. Here, I'm going to explain how to use it. The golden ratio is a mathematical ratio of one to 1.618 that is found in many natural forms, including flowers, e.g. It's sometimes called the divine proportion because of its perceived aesthetic appeal. Essentially is a way of dividing your canvas so that certain elements are in proportion to one another. To use the golden ratio in your floral painting, you want to divide your canvas into a rectangle with a length to width ratio of one to 1.618. Then you can position your focal point, such as a flower or bookie, uh, one of the points where the lines intersect. This can create a sense of harmony and balance in your painting. And you can help draw the viewer's eye to the most important part of your composition. Now, don't worry if you're not a max-width, there are plenty of tools and guides available that can help you work with the golden ratio. Many painting software, e.g. built-in grades and tools that can help you apply this composition principle. Do your work. And I've added a jpeg of the golden ratio template in your resources. So in this lesson, I explained to you what is the golden ratio. And I've given you some examples. Of course there's much more information online. I would have to do just one class only with the golden ratio to explain everything to you about it. But if you are curious about it, you can just search the golden ratio and you will see tons of information on what it is and how to apply it and how to actually build it, which it's not something for everyone, I suppose. So in the next lesson, I'll explain the rule of odds. I will see you in the next lesson. 6. The Rule Of Odds: The robots is a guideline often used in floor of design to create visually appealing arrangements. Essentially, the rule of odds suggests that odd numbers of flowers or elements in a composition tend to be more visually interesting and pleasing to the eye than even numbers. So e.g. in a floral composition, you might want to use 35 or seven flowers that 246. This is because odd numbers create a sense of asymmetry and movement, which can make the composition more dynamic. E.g. in this composition, I used five flowers here. And then the sum in the background, but the main flowers, five. And then here I have 12345 flowers and above. So it looks like there are six flowers, but actually, because this is so much smaller than the other ones, it's not really competing with the other flowers. If I add another big flower, then the composition will be a bit of balance. There are exceptions, of course, and ways to make a composition with even elements that work. So e.g. here, this is one of my illustrations. I have only two elements here, but the composition is still dynamic because of the way these two beds are arranged. They are interacting with each other. The top one is looking at the bottom one and vice versa. So the composition still works. And this composition on the right is by way, more famous botanical painter, which is rigidity. And here he used just two elements. But the way they are arranged, so one is higher than the other one and also the sides. The top one is smaller and the bottom one is bigger. And then you have the leaves all around. It makes this composition work anyway, even if it's an even number. So as usual, experiment with your compositions. Start with the rule of thirds, with the rule of odds. But then if something, if you feel that something works, even if you have to break these rules, don't be afraid to try it. In this lesson, I explain to you what is the rule of odds, and I've given you some examples. And in the next lesson, I will talk about another aspect of composition which is balanced. So I will see you in the next lesson. 7. Balance: When we talk about balance in, are we referring to the way the elements of the artwork arranged in a way which is pleasing to the eye in flurry illustration, achieving balance means making sure that your flowers and other elements are arranged in a way that feels harmonious and visually appealing. One way to achieve balance is to pay attention to proportion. You want to make sure that your flowers and other elements are proportionate to each other and to the overall size of your composition. If one element is significantly larger than or smaller than the others, then it can throw off the balance of your artwork. E.g. in the composition here on the right, these days is much, much larger than the other flowers, and the composition looks a bit weird. Another way to achieve balance is the use of symmetry. This means arranging your flowers and other elements in a way that creates a mirror image on either sides of the composition. This can create a sense of stability and order, but you have to be careful not to make it too symmetrical or it can become a little bit boring. In this illustration here, I use symmetry. So this flower here is in the center, the purple one. And then you have a yellow one on the right and a yellow one on the left. And the same for the muscarinic here, one on the right, one on the left. But they're not exactly symmetrical. Flower on the right is higher than the flower on the left. And the same for this here. The muscarine is higher on the right than on the left. Then, because there is this cluster here of the two flowers. To balance the composition, I added a little butterfly here. And the leaves, again, sort of symmetrical in a way, but they are different. So you have longer leaves here and you have longer leaves but with another shape on this side. And here I added a flower bud, so it's not exactly, exactly the same as this side. So in this lesson we talked about balance and why it's important in floral composition. And I showed you some examples. And in the next lesson we're going to talk about contrast. I will see you in the next lesson. 8. Contrast: When we talk about contrast in R2 is referring to the way different elements of the artwork at arranged in a way that creates a visual interest and depth. In Florida, illustration contrast can be achieved through different ways. For sample, one way to create contrast is through the use of color. You can use bright, bold colors to create a sense of energy and vibrancy. Or you can use subtle, muted colors to create a sense of calm and tranquility. You can also experiment with contrasting colors. E.g. you can paint a deep purple flower with a bright yellow one to create a striking visual effect. In these illustrations, you can see that I've put a purple flower next to the yellow flowers. And even if they're not too bold, they are quiet, muted colors. They still create this nice contrast. In this illustration on the left, the use of the red and green colors create contrast because these colors are complimentary in the color wheel, so they are opposite each other on the color wheel. And the red doesn't contain any green, and the green doesn't contain any red. There is a, quite a strong contrast between these two colors, which can create really interesting effects. And if we look at the black and white pictures like I showed you before, you can see you have darker areas. So the stalk here and disciples are darker. And the areas on the shadow here a darker. And here as well, you have some darker areas in the petals. In the most scary here, and the leaves are darker as well. So these create contrast. Texture is another way to create contrast. Your floral illustration. You can use soft and delicate petals alongside refer more textured leaves to create a sense of variety and interest. You can also use contrasting textures to create a sense of depth. In these illustrations, I use different textures, e.g. in the cosmos illustration, I have this move, petals of the cosmos against the rough texture of the lavender, e.g. then in here with a crocus, I have again smooth petals of the crocus and these sort of grape like texture of the muscarinic. And in this illustration of the cecum and flowers, we have again smooth petals of the sacrament. And then we have a rougher texture here in the leaves where the veins tend to stand out a little bit. And then even more rough texture in the bulb underneath and the roots. Shape and size are also important factors in creating contrast. You can experiment with different shapes of flowers, e.g. such as round, spiky, star-shaped to create a sense of variety and interests. And you can also play with sides using larger flowers as a focal point and smaller flowers to create a sense of depth and perspective. In these illustrations, I used for somebody larger cosmos flowers here and the very small flowers of the lavender here. And also they have a different shapes, of course, because the flower of the lavender is this tall and long flower, while the cosmos are displayed shape more round. And then in here, again, that is the biggest shape of the mane mushroom. And the other ones are a bit rounder. And then in here, the smaller mushrooms, but in these ones that are also different shapes, There's a taller one and then there's some which are more triangular in shape, some bigger ones, some smaller ones. And of course, you can experiment with different combination of contrast to find what works best for you. So you can combine textures and colors and shapes and see what comes out. So in this lesson, we talked about contrast and how to achieve it in your floral composition. In the next lesson, we're going to talk about the focal point. 9. Focal Point: The focal point is the element of your illustration that draws the viewer's eye and anchors the composition. In our case, the focal point could be a particularly striking flower, butterfly perched on a petal or a bee buzzing around the blossoms for sample. Now, there are a few things to keep in mind when creating a focal point in your floral illustration. First, you want to make sure it's visually interesting and stands out from the rest of the elements in your artwork. And this can be achieved through the use of bold colors, contrasting textures, or unusual shape or sites, e.g. in this illustration, the focal point is this red mushroom in the middle here. And this machine has a different color, so it's a contrasting color, a different shape. There's a piece missing here and there are some texture on the top. And even though these are the mushrooms, the smaller ones are the same type. There are smaller, so they don't compete with the focal point. Second, you want to place your focal point in a way that creates balance and harmony within your composition. So one popular technique is to use the rule of thirds, which I've already explained to you. And in this composition, you can see that I placed the main roads, the focal point in at one of the intersection here on the top left. And finally, don't be afraid to get creative with your focal point. Maybe you want to create a sense of movement by placing a bird in flight as your focal point. Or perhaps you want to add a touch of whimsy with a fairly hiding in the flowers. Whatever you choose, make sure that it's adding some interests and personality to your illustration. Remember that the focal point needs to draw the viewer's eye to your illustration or painting. In this lesson, we talked about focal point and how to use it in your composition. And in the next lesson, we're going to talk about how to create flow. I'll see you in the next lesson. 10. Flow: When we talk about movement in art, we referring to the way the elements or the artwork arranged in a way that creates a sense of motion and energy. In Florida, illustration movement can be achieved through a variety of ways. One way to create movement is through the use of diagonal lines. By placing your flowers and other elements in a diagonal arrangement, you can create a sense of movement and energy. And this can be particularly effective if you're trying to create a sense of flow or direction in your composition, e.g. in this composition, the flowers are placed in a diagonal way. If you imagine a line here going down. And then on this side as well, between the flowers, the flower, the leaf and the, but you have another diagonal on the other side. Another way to create movement is through the use of curves. By using curved lines, you can create a sense of fluidity and grace. And this can be particularly effective if you're trying to create a sense of movement in a more gentle, organic way. So in this illustration of the donors, I created movement by curving the stems of the flowers. So you can see here, many of these stems are curving and also a continuous the curvature through the flowers as well. You can also create movement through the use of repetition. Repeating certain elements in your composition, such as a particular flower or leaf shape, you can create a sense of rhythm and motion. And this can be particularly effective if you're trying to create a sense of movement that is more subtle and understated. And of course, you can always try different combinations of movement to find what works best for you. So try combining diagonal lines with curves or using repetition in different unexpected ways. So in this lesson, we talked about flow and how to achieve it in your composition. And in the next lesson, we're going to talk about how to create depth. 11. Depth: Left is all about creating a sense of space and distance within your compositions. And you want to make your artwork feel like it has three-dimensions rather than just being a flat image. One way to create depth is through the use of overlapping elements. By placing some flowers, e.g. in front of others, you can create a sense of debt and distance within your composition. And this can also help to create a sense of movement as the eye is naturally drawn from one element to another. In this case, you can see that somebody leaves and flower. The seeds here are placed at the back. In this composition here, e.g. there are some, some elements like the leaves here. You can see that the back and this one is also a bit lighter as well. And then some of the elements are differently at the front here. The same thing here. This crocus is the one at the very front and then the muscarinic, the back. And somebody leaves the back. And same thing here. So someone, they lavender flowers. You can see there at the back. They just peeking out from behind. Another way to create depth is through the placement of flowers in the foreground, the background, by placing some flowers closer to the viewer and others further away, you can create a sense of space and distance within your composition. And this can also help to create a sense of perspective as the viewer is able to see different parts of the composition, different distances. So in here, I achieved this sort of perspective by leaving the flowers at the back in a lighter color. The flowers and the branches as well. So it's the same color but in a very light wash. And it feels as if these flowers a bit further away than the flowers of the darker color. So you feel like there's a depth of field in this composition. And in here, again, the master day, he did the same thing. So we're not the same as this one, but it plays some of the flowers at the back. And you can see that this bouquet looks three-dimensional because some of these flowers, e.g. this one here is not as white and this, I think that's a butterfly, but they're not as clear as the flowers at the front. And this creates that sense of depth. You can see here this is quite, is actually darker. But the contrary, instead of making the flowers at the back later, you make whatever is at the back, darker. It gives you a gain, that sense of depth and profundity. It's conveys a three-dimension because light does reach all the way at the back. And this particular composition, it works really wonderfully. Another way to create depth is by using shadowing. By adding shadows to the flowers and other elements, you can create that three-dimensional form and volume. And this can also help to create a sense of contrast and interest within your composition. So in here, this is a coleus illustration that I did. You can see the shadows here between the leaf that is at the top, this one to this at the bottom, and this one as well. So there are paths which are darker and this conveys a sense of depth because you can see that the top leaf is creating this shadow on the bottom leaves. And I did that in this area as well. And in here, there are also shadows around the petals of the flower, which is on top of this anemone here. So in here, the different petals create shadows on top of the other and in the leaves as well. So as always, experiment with different combinations of dept techniques and see how you can create that in your illustration. In this lesson, we talked about creating depth in your composition. And in the next lesson we're going to talk about how to create harmony. I'll see you in the next lesson. 12. Harmony: When it comes to painting flowers, it's important not only to create a pleasing composition, but also to use an harmonious color scheme. So how do we create our money? In our floral composition? There are two main ways using complimentary colors and using analogous colors. So let's dive into each of these techniques in a little more detail. Complimentary colors are those that are opposite each other on the color wheel. So e.g. red and green, blue and orange and so on. So when used together, these colors create a high level of contrast, which can make for a dynamic and eye-catching composition. So the colors don't have to be bolt for this to work for some. But here in this crocus illustration, which I showed you already many times, you can see that these colors are not really bold. They are quiet, muted, but still the pairing of the purple flowers with a yellow, which are here in the color wheel, you can see purple and yellow are opposite, creates this harmonious composition. On the other hand, this composition here, this painting is quite strong and vibrant because we have read and green, but they are a bit bolder than the colors here on the crocus composition. On the other hand, we have analogous colors, which are those that are next to each other. On the color wheel. We have from red, orange, yellow, and then yellow, green and green and so on. So these are two illustrations. They show you the analogous colors, e.g. in the illustration on the left here, we have the orange and yellow and red and then the green. And here we are. We start with the red and then again yellow and orange and green. These compositions they use more the analogous sort of color palette. Using analogous colors creates a more subtle and bonus effect because this color's naturally blend together. For a more peaceful and calming composition, you could try painting a bouquet of flowers in various shades of blue and green, e.g. ultimately, the key to creating a harmonious composition is to use a color scheme that is pleasing to the eye. You want to make sure that the colors you choose work well together and compliment each other. It's also important to consider the overall mood you're trying to convey with your painting. Do you want to have a bold and dramatic composition or a peaceful and calming painting. This will help you guide your color choices. So next time you're creating a floral painting, think about how you can use complimentary or analogous colors to create a harmonious and visually pleasing composition. And remember to always experiment and have fun with color choices. So in this lesson, we talked about creating harmony in your composition. And in the next lesson we're going to talk about common mistakes, which you should avoid and see you in the next lesson. 13. Mistakes to Avoid: So as we've seen, when it comes to painting flowers, getting the composition right is crucial to creating a successful piece of art. But there are a few common mistakes that artists often make when creating a floral composition. So let's have a look at what those are and how to avoid them. Mistake number one, not having a focal point. So we've talked already about the focal point. Without a focal point, the painting can feel aimless and lacking in direction when you're creating your floral composition. Thinking about where you want the viewer's eye to be drawn and make sure that the area is emphasized in some way, whether it's through color, texture, or placement. Mistake number two, overcrowding the composition. So it can be tempting to try and fit as many flowers as possible into your painting. But this can often result in a cluttered and confusing composition. Instead, try to focus on a few key flours or elements and give them room to breathe. This will create a sense of balance and harmony in the painting. Mistake number three, not paying attention to their overall shape of the composition. Every painting as a shape with a square, rectangular, circular, or something else entirely. So when you're creating your floral composition, think about how the shapes of the flowers and other elements will interact with the overall shape of the painting. This will create a sense of unity and cohesion. Mistake number four is using too many colors. While flowers are often associated with bright and bold colors, using too many colors in a composition can be overwhelming. Instead, try to limit yourself to a few key colors and use them in different ways throughout the painting. This will help create a sense of harmony and balance. I do have other classes on mixing colors from a limited number of panes, and also on choosing your favorite color palette. So you can have a look at those. If you like. Mistake number five, be aware of kissing when creating a composition makes sure you don't have elements. Kissing, which means what's happening here. So elements like this, this shouldn't just about touch like in this case, but this should be either apart. There should be some space between them. Or like I did, there should be overlapping. So it's either overlapping or having space between the elements. But not this, which is called Kissing, which doesn't look very nice when you have a composition. So in this lesson, we talked about the common mistakes in composition. And so far, we've talked about all the rules you should follow. In the next lesson, we're going to see how to break those rules. So we'll see you in the next lesson. 14. Break the Rules: Now that you've learned the rules of composition, Let's talk about how to break those rules. After all, rules are meant to be broken, right? While the principles of compositions are essential to creating a visually pleasing painting, sometimes it's necessary to break the rules. And breaking the rules of composition can create a more dynamic and unique composition. Now you might be thinking, Wait, what? But I thought we are to follow those rules. Yes, it's true that following the principles of composition can help create a well-balanced and visually pleasing painting. However, sometimes we need to break the rules to make our painting stand out and be more interesting. E.g. let's talk about the rule of thirds. We learned earlier that the rule of thirds involves dividing the painting into a three-by-three grid and placing the focal point of the painting at one day, intersecting points. But what if we intentionally placed the focal point of center, say e.g. in the top-left corner of the painting. This will create a more unique and dynamic composition, breaking away from the traditional placement of the focal point. In this painting, The Last Supper by a learner to the Vinci. He breaks the traditional composition rules by placing the central figures of Jesus off-center and in a asymmetrical position. And he also uses the shape of the table in the placement of the figures to create a sense of movement, intention. In this painting called Starry Night by Van Gogh. He breaks the rules of perspective and proportion by distorting the size and shape of the stars, creating an unusual swelling pattern in the sky. He also uses vibrant and unexpected color combination to create a sense of depth and movement in the painting. This painting here by Picasso, cold lead, they might sell dominion. Excuse my accent. In this painting, picasso breaks the rules of traditional composition by using a diagonal composition in placing the figures in conventional positions. He also uses a range of colors and patterns to create a sense of depth and complexity in the painting. This painting is called composition eight by Kandinsky, and it's an abstract painting. Here. Can this key breaks the rules of traditional composition entirely by using a non-representative, non-representational style and creates a complex and dynamic arrangement of shapes and colors. These paintings are just a few examples of how breaking the rules of composition can lead to standing and innovative works of art. Now, it's important to remember that breaking the rules should be done intentionally and repurpose. It shouldn't be a result of lack of understanding or disregard for the principle of composition. Breaking the rules should be a conscious decision that helps elevate the painting and makes it stand out. So go ahead and experiment with breaking the rules of composition. Just remember to do it intentionally and repurpose. And you might be surprised that the unique and dynamic compositions you can create. I hope this overview about composition will help you in your future work. And in the next video, I will show you how I go about creating my compositions for my illustrations. I see you in the next lesson. 15. Example Thumbnail Sketch: In this lesson, I just wanted to show you how I approach starting a composition. Whenever new project for botanical, floral painting. There's a difference between floral botanical painting. But it will explain that in another lesson, maybe do a bonus lesson for you about that. So what do I do first when I want to do a new painting or illustration is I start with thumbnail sketches and I take my sketchbook. This is a particular one for my botanical paintings, but you can use any paper. You don't have to use special paper for that. And do some sketches like this. So sometimes they do just some basically rough rectangles. Because normally my compositions are portrayed. Sometimes I do something like this more with a ruler. So it looks a bit neater. And when they do basically is I choose this object. So in this case, it's a main one is, and I do some sketches, but they are quite rough. I don't want to spend too much time on this. Actually, these ones and a bit better than the other ones. This look like. Just some doodles. Nothing, nothing special. But the main point is that you understand what you want to convey. You understand what your competition is gonna be. Because no one is going to see these. These aren't just for you. So you can do them as rough, as wild as you want. But as long as you know what you meant when you did them, that's fine. Here. I have chosen the name1 is I want to paint because this is going to be botanical. I'm going to have flowers that you can see from the front, from the side, from the back as a bud. And then there's another little about today as well, and some leaves, possibly the leaves. So what I did here is try different combinations. With a flower in the middle, with the big flower on the side. We have a bud. Here. We have an open flower instead of the bud. So as you can see, try different ways. Could it a bit closer? So try different ways. Here the open flowers is, flour is at the center, but a bit lower. Here is at the side. And then this is the last one. I don't know if you can see it properly, which is even quicker than the other ones and it's probably the one I like most. So what to do after this stage is I do a larger and more defined sketch. It will be still sketch. Nothing fancy. Probably still on paper like this. But it will be a little bit more refined. And it will be from the one, the composition a chosen. Then after that, I go on and do a larger sketch. But I do a sketch wishes. Life sites. You're going have to do all the steps you can just do straight away, do life-size sketch. But I feel it's better because you can keep refining. The more you sketch it, the more you can refine your composition, the more you can see if there are things that the work. Because sometimes I may like this composition here, but then when you try to do it late sides, you realize that there are things that they're not actually working. So this is the first stage, and then I will show you in the next lesson, the next stage after this, okay? And we will see that in the next lesson. 16. Example Step 2: So after the thumbnail sketches, I will do and sketch the composition a bit larger and then life sides. And then what I do, my next step is to basically trace each element on tracing paper. And I write here, R is for right side, so I don't accidentally put them the other way round. And what I do is I trust them and then I use an ink pen to retrace it darker. Then what I do is I play with these, with these elements to see the compositions. So e.g. in here, we've seen that they add different compositions. And although I liked one in particular, it doesn't mean that when it's live sides, I want like some other composition as well. So what I do is I use this thumbnail sketches and then please the different elements that they are in the different positions. And if you'll see here, let me move this moment out of the way. I have recreated the grid for the rule of thirds. It's very faint, but you should be able to see it. And basically you can use this. You can do an a 4.3 like this one. And you can use the the points here, the intersection points to place your sample, your focal point. You can place it here or here. And then you can use the other intersection for the other elements. You're going to have to use this. But if it helps, you can play with this a little bit and then play around with you, Elements, see which combination you like most. And then with this method, you can do lots of different combinations without having to erase and redo the whole thing again. So try this method, see if you like it. And then when you find a composition that you like, you can just use a white piece of paper. Or you can tape the big pieces together without any paper underneath. And then you can transfer this on a light box. And you put your a sheet of paper on top and then you can trace it. I have here an example of my process to create a composition. And I want to talk to you about these different compositions and why I did more than one. But I will do that in the next lesson. 17. Example Step 3: This lesson I'm going to show you my process basically for arriving at the final composition. So here I had made this composition. And there are a few things. Normally what I do is say, I do the composition and then I leave it for a few days and then go back because sometimes you can't see the mistakes that you make. So here for somebody to take notes and everyone that these two flowers here, they need to be rearranged because they're forming a V-shape. And that's not very nice to look at. So I needed to change this composition and this arrangement. And then here I needed to change the height because basically this became the same height as this one. And again, it doesn't look right. When you look at it. It looks a bit odd. So either rearrange it, change the height or remove completely. And then again, this one, there was a little bit of the thing called kissing. So even though it's on the front, It's almost the same width of the other store cut the back. So that's also something to avoid. And then in this area here, there are too many stems crossing. So let me put it a bit closer. So as you can see, there are too many stems closing and then one of them started back and ended up at the front. And so that needed to be adjusted as well. So I have number one here. Number two, which I like a bit more but is not the final one either. And again, there are things that needed to be changed. So this flower here, e.g. this team was again kissing with these leaves here. I think they're called leaflets, these ones. Then here again, I did some too many crossing with their stems, so I needed to rearrange that and then move this again because again was it wasn't exactly kissing, but it didn't look right in this area. And then moving this one meant moving this one as well. So I take notes of the things that they want to do. And then this is the final one. So I have here the one on tracing paper. And this is the final composition in here. Let me get maybe the first one. Put it next to each other. I hope you can see it. So this flower here, I moved it here. And this flower that was sort of in the center, I moved it, I made it taller and that's the focal point. So it's taller than the other ones. And this flower here, which shows the back, I put it here so you can see it. And it doesn't create the V-shape that it did before. You can see the leaves as well. And then the two buds, I moved them. So this one is on the right here now, and this one is just filling this space that is here. And then the only two Stokes crossing. So it's not confusing anymore. And anyway, the anemone is tend to grow quite straight. So I didn't want to do, you know, too many curves because they're not really natural otherwise. And then the next step after this, what I do normally if it's a botanical painting, I will do a tonal study. I transfer the drawing to watercolor paper. I made this sketch book with Arches paper because it's the one that I normally use. And I want to see the effect of the final work. So I do all my sketches and I mean a ton of studies and study pages in here. And this is what the tonal a final drawing will look like. And then I would need to do this in watercolor. And so this is basically the whole process for creating the composition. So I hope you have enjoyed this class. And if you have any questions, do reach out and let me know. 18. Final Thoughts: Congratulations on completing the class. I hope you enjoyed it and you found that useful. The next step, of course is to practicing what you just learned. So just get some pencils and paper and start sketching out some compositions and make use of the grid and the golden ratio templates that I gave you. And just sketch anytime you find a little bit of spare time in your day. Don't forget to post pictures of your work in the project section so I can give you feedback and see where you Create. And also don't forget to hit the Follow button here on Skillshare so that you can be notified as soon as a new class comes out. You can also check my profile here on Skillshare. And you can find more classes on drawing and painting there as well. If you'd like to connect my social media links down here. If you have enjoyed the class, I will be very grateful if you live the good review. So the class will be more discoverable and more people will be able to enjoy this class. Thanks again for watching the class, and I will see you in the next class. Bye.