Explore Watercolor Florals : 5 Techniques for Painting Poppies | Garima Srivastava | Skillshare
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Explore Watercolor Florals : 5 Techniques for Painting Poppies

teacher avatar Garima Srivastava, Artist and Illustrator

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      2:33

    • 2.

      Your Project & Class Framework

      1:05

    • 3.

      Art Supplies

      6:41

    • 4.

      Watercolor Concepts

      11:33

    • 5.

      Poppy Types and Reference Images

      2:54

    • 6.

      Style 1 Brushstrokes Practice

      5:52

    • 7.

      Project 1 Stylized Representation

      15:57

    • 8.

      Style 2 Brushstroke Practice

      8:07

    • 9.

      Project 2 Transparent Layered Part I

      10:46

    • 10.

      Project 2 Transparent Layered Part II

      12:21

    • 11.

      Style 3 Flat Brush

      7:51

    • 12.

      Style 3 Mop Brush

      10:03

    • 13.

      Style 3 Round Brush

      14:41

    • 14.

      Project 3 Expressive and Depictive

      13:40

    • 15.

      Style 4 Brushstroke & Masking Fluid

      12:20

    • 16.

      Project 4 Loose Style Part I

      5:01

    • 17.

      Project 4 Loose Style Part II

      13:21

    • 18.

      Project 4 Loose Style Part III

      8:38

    • 19.

      Project 5 Freestyle

      12:18

    • 20.

      Closing

      0:35

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About This Class

Want to explore different styles and techniques of painting watercolor florals? Poppies are a great and fun subject for watercolor beginners and I am teaching you 5 different ways of painting them with watercolors.

Whether you want to learn basic techniques of painting watercolor florals or simply want to explore a new style to loosen up, then this class is for you.

 Poppies are not just beautiful but also very meaningful in many cultures and I find them an excellent subject no matter what stage you are at in your creativity.

The goal of this class is for you to explore 5 very different but easily achievable painting styles.We are painting poppies with watercolors in the following styles / techniques:

  1. Stylized representation
  2. Transparent and layered look
  3. Charming and depictive look
  4. Loose watercolor style
  5. Free Style

By the end of this class you’ll not only have 5 beautiful paintings of poppies but also the basic knowledge to explore one or more of the painting techniques further.

With this class you'll learn:

  • Art supplies that I’ve used.
  • Important watercolor Techniques:
    • Painting wet on wet.
    • Painting wet on dry.
    • Glazing
    • Using masking fluid
    • Adding splatters
  • Types of poppies, a look at fresh poppies and some reference images
  • 5 Step by step painting of poppies in 5 different styles with separate brushstroke practice lessons

This class is meant for all skill levels. Beginners and experienced artists are both welcome.
Here are the 5 projects that you can create with this class.

I hope I have got you excited about this class. Come join me and let's paint some poppies!

More Watercolor Classes:

About the teacher

My name is Garima Srivastava, I’m an artist and illustrator based in The Netherlands. I’ve been painting since 2011 and watercolor is my favourite medium. I love creating and teaching art that’s beautiful yet simple and achievable.

Useful Links

You can follow my art journey on  Instagram here

Find my Inspiration boards on Pinterest

Follow me on Skillshare for updates about my next classes and giveaways (click here)

See you in the class!

   

Meet Your Teacher

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Garima Srivastava

Artist and Illustrator

Top Teacher

Hello, I'm Garima.

I'm an artist and illustrator based in The Netherlands. I reconnected with my creative self a decade ago to escape the loneliness of being new in a foreign land. My artworks speak the language of joyful brush strokes and vibrant colors.

On a usual day you will find me in my home studio painting flowers, teapots, houses and cute, curly little people. I live with my husband and our sweet little daughter in a quiet village close to Amsterdam. I paint every day and share my art journey on my Instagram account (Garimasrivastava_art) through my daily posts and videos. I am often told that I make art look achievable,simple and yet beautiful.

I find inspiration from the world around me and love letting... See full profile

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: Do you also feel that watercolors and poppies simply belong together? And are you ready to explore different painting styles and techniques? Then I have a fun class for you because I'm teaching you not just one or two, rather five different ways of painting poppies using watercolors. That means five beautiful projects and five fun techniques. Hi, my name is Garima Srivastava I'm an artist and a freelance illustrator based in The Netherlands. I love combining traditional and digital art media to create designs for fashion, home decor, and stationery products. I also love sharing my art process and have taught thousands of students my way of creating art. That's beautiful, yet achievable. I've been painting since 2011. And each year during summer I get super excited seeing these gorgeous poppies bloom by the roadside. And I always try to capture the beauty using different styles and art media. Painting poppies is fun no matter what art medium you pick. But painting them with watercolors is a little extra magical. In this class, I'll walk you through the art supplies I've used. We look at the basic watercolor concepts that we have used in this class, will also have a look at different types of poppies. And after that, we'll move on to the projects. This class is meant for all skill levels. Beginners will not only learn five different styles and techniques, but to also basic watercolor concepts like painting wet on wet, wet on dry, glazing, and tips and techniques to use masking fluid. There is a special emphasis on brushstroke practice to gain confidence. What you will learn in this class can be applied to other flowers too. If you're an experienced artist and want to explore a different painting technique or simply want to loosen up your style, then you too will enjoy this class. Because I'm teaching you styles and techniques varying from abstract stylized representation all the way to loose freestyle. Your project for this class is to pick any one of the five painting styles and techniques I've shared in this class and paint some poppies using it. So no matter where you're at in your watercolor journey, simply bring your art supplies and join me in this class. Let's paint some poppies. 2. Your Project & Class Framework: Welcome to the class. Your project for this class is to pick any one of the five painting styles and techniques I've shared in this class and painting poppies using it. Please make sure to upload your project here on Skillshare under projects and resources section. Now let's have a look at how the class is formatted. After this, there is a lesson where I'm sharing with you all the art supplies I've used in this class. You can also find a list of all the art supplies under the projects and resources section. After that, there is a useful lesson on basic watercolor concepts that have been used in this class. Following that, we'll look at different types of poppies, some fresh ones as well, and a few royalty-free images for reference. After that, we will move on to our five projects which use different styles and technique. For the first four projects, there's also a lesson included where we are practicing the brush strokes that are going to be used for that project. And for the fifth one, you won't really need brushstroke practice. It's that fun of a technique. Now let's get started. 3. Art Supplies: Now let's look at the art supplies I've used in this class. Please remember that you do not need these exact paper and colors. Feel free to use what you already have. Let's look at the colors that I have in my color palette. So I've got quite a few different kinds of reds, oranges, and yellows with me. Let's have a look which ones I have got. I've got these large wells here where I will be creating good amount of pure color mixes. So first one I have got here is Transparent Orange. For a warm red, I've got Windsor Red in here. I've got Permanent Alizarin Crimson in here for a darker red. For even darker red. I've got Perylene Maroon in here. For a cool red or pink. I've got Rose Madder Genuine in here. For yellows. I have Quinacridone Gold and Permanent Yellow Deep in here. For leaves, I've got Sap Green. And to create darker leaves, I will add some Indigo to it. I've also got some Ivory Black in here. For practicing the brush strokes. I'm using Canson XL, 300 GSM, cold press, watercolor paper. It's a great paper for beginners. It's smoother to touch compared to other cold press watercolor papers. The colors dry a bit patchy on this paper, but don't worry about it. It's a great paper just to practice your brush strokes. For the projects of this class, I'm using 300 GSM hot press paper from Clairefontain, 1000% cotton, 23 by 31 centimeter in size. For beginners, let me explain to you the difference between hot press and cold press paper. Hot pressed paper goes through hot rollers and thus has smooth surface. While the cold pressed papers usually have slightly bumpy surface, which can vary between different brands. Hot press paper is slightly less absorbent, while cold press paper very quickly absorbs the water. Colors are more vivid on hot press paper and slightly less vivid and a bit faded on cold press paper. It's a bit more difficult to find hot press paper, but you can very easily find a cold press paper in your nearby art store. Hot press paper, I'm more suitable for illustrations which involve fine detailed work or printmaking. But for a traditional watercolor look, you can very easily use cold press paper. I'm using hot pressed paper just out of my personal preference, but feel free to use any one of your favorite cold press watercolor paper. Just make sure it's close to 300 GSM or above in weight. The paper is quite smooth to touch and has been gummed on all four edges, apart from a small space along this edge where there is no gum. So when I'm painting big I directly paint on this paper pad, let my painting dry completely and then insert the palette knife along that small space where there is no gum and simply run the palette knife along to separate the sheet from this block. You can also use a knife like this. Simply insert and then run it along the edge. When I'm painting small, I first detach a sheet from this block, cut it into smaller piece, and then with the help of a tape, attach it on a piece of cardboard like this. I do not need to add the tape on all the four edges because I tend to not use too much water in my paintings. But if you do, then make sure to attach the paper to the cardboard to prevent buckling. Now let's look at the brushes I'm using today. I'm using a number six round brush for mixing colors. It's an old natural hair brush. I'll be using to mop brushes. Number 0 and number one from Da Vinci petit gris pur line. They are lovely brushes and get to a really nice point when they are wet. I'll also be using a number four round pointed Princeton Velvet Touch brush. Number four pointed round, D Vinci Cosmotop Spin brush. And for detail work. And number two and a triple 0, Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin. I'll also be showing you how to paint poppies using a flat brush. So I've got a number eight Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin brush. I've got a pencil and a kneaded gum eraser. Just to create some guidelines for composition, will be creating the details with our watercolors and the smaller brushes. But I've also shown how you can use a watercolor pencil like this. This is from Faber Castell or a fine tip marker like this. We'll be creating some highlights in one of the projects. So for that, I've got some Winsor Newton masking fluid to apply that I'll be using a wooden skewer like this. But you can also use an old brush or the nib pen. Just make sure to dip the brush in soapy water before you use it with masking fluid. Because masking fluid can damage your brushes. So never use a new nicer brush. If you don't like using masking fluid, you can use white gouache or a bleed proof white like this to create some highlights. I've got two special things. One is a small plastic bottle cap. I'll be using this to pour some masking fluid. This is a small teacup that I borrowed from my daughters play tea set. We will be using this for one of the techniques. Apart from this, you will need the usuals some kitchen paper towel or an absorbent cloth to remove excess water from your brush. A jar or two of clear water to rinse your brushes. And also to create your color mixes. 4. Watercolor Concepts: Let's look at some basic watercolor concepts that have been used in this class. This lesson will be helpful to those of you who have just started with watercolors. I've got my tube colors squeezed out into these color palettes, and I'll be using this mixing tray to create my color mixes. Sometimes I pick color directly from these puddles because I want to have some pure intense color. You can use a spritz bottle to activate your colors. Feel free to use your pan colors. I've got an old round brush with that I'll create some color mixes. I've also got a stack of kitchen paper towels here. So I do recommend keeping something absorbent in your hand. A kitchen paper towel or an absorbent cloth just to remove excess moisture from your brush when you are applying the water colors on the paper. Now I want to show you two ways of applying watercolors. First one is called wet on wet. And the second one is called wet on dry. With plain water in my brush, I have painted a little petal here. Make the paper nicely soaked. Now I'm picking some Winsor Red, and I'm also painting a petal here. So you can see both of these petals are still wet. This one is wet with just plain water and here with a wash of Windsor Red. Now if I pick another color in my brush, say Sap Green. Here you can see the color is watery. And now I'm going to add this wet color on top of a wet surface. So here I've applied some wet Sap Green on top of already wet Winsor Red wash. Let's do the same here. I've picked some Sap green and I'm going to add it on top of this shape that we had painted with just water. You can see we applied wet color on top of a wet surface. So this was wet on wet. Now, let's see, wet on dry. So for that, let me first paint a small petal shape here and wait for it to dry first. Now let's see, wet-on-dry. What that means is you are applying wet color on a dry surface. It can be simple, plain white paper and you're applying wet color on top. So wet color on a dry paper. Or it can be applying wet color on an already dried surface. So this petal I had painted earlier, it has dried completely. And now if I add these green marks, you can see how they're just sitting on top. They're not blending, they're not bleeding. So here I've applied some wet Sap Green on top of a dried color layer. You can see the difference between the two applications. Here. I get soft and fuzzy look, the green has been added, but it has nicely blended in and has become quite fuzzy. Here you can see I get sharp edges. These little dots are quite well-defined. So this is a great way to add little details on top of already painted watercolor layers. Now I want to show you how by varying the amount of water in your mixes, you're able to achieve different values of colors. So I'm first going to create a mix of Transparent Orange and Winsor Red. This mix barely has any water in it. And with that, let's paint a mark here. So you can see how nice and intense the color is here. Now I'll add just a little bit more water to this mix. With that, I'm going to paint another block here. So you can see just by adding water to the same color mix, I'm able to achieve a lighter version of that color. If I'll add more water to the same mix of Winsor Red and Transparent Orange. I'll get. even lighter version of that color. So just by changing the amount of water in your mix, you'll be able to create dark intense petals, are really light, transparent ones like this. Always make sure to remove excess water from your brush by patting it on a kitchen paper towel like this. Next, I want to show you a very basic technique of watercolor called glazing. Glazing means is you're adding transparent layers of color on top of each other. So watercolors can be transparent, semitransparent, or opaque. I like to work with semitransparent or transparent colors for glazing. Let's first paint a few petals so that I can show you the different uses of glazing. I'm using Winsor Red for the petal here, some Permanent Yellow Deep here, and some indigo right here. Now I'm going to wait for these to dry before I explain any further. Our previous layer has completely dried and we're going to glaze another transparent layer on top of these colors. So for first one, we're going to take a little bit of Windsor Red, which is a semi-transparent color. And I'm going to add it on top of this Permanent Yellow Deep petal. When glazing a color, always make sure to apply the color very gently. Just glide your brush on top. Do not rub your brush harshly on the paper because you will disturb the color layer underneath it. Now you can see by applying some Winsor Red, which is a semi-transparent color on top of this Permanent Yellow Deep, I'm able to shift the color from yellow to orange. Now, one of the use of glazing is shifting your color. We went from yellow to orange here. Since our Winsor Red was semi-transparent, you are able to achieve a nice look where you can see a mix of both red and yellow and it gives you the look of an orange. You can also use glazing to deepen up the color, increase the intensity of the color. So here we had some indigo. I'm going to add another layer on top of it. It's still a transparent layer on top of the earlier one. You can see how I went from a light indigo now to a bit darker version of integral. And now that this indigo has dried, I'm going to add another glaze on top. So now you can see how I've got three different variations of the same color just by applying layers, one on top of the other. I've got really light one. Then I added another layer on top, got this one a bit darker. And then the third application, I got the darkest value here. So with the help of glazing, you can create petals through which you can see the other petals. Here you can see the look of two petals, one and the second one underneath it. You can see the overlapping area. And with that, we'll be creating some poppies today. Later in this class, I have also shared how to use masking fluid in your paintings. But for now let me show you how to add some splatters to your painting. I've got my paper here. When you're playing with splatter technique, try to be a bit careful and protect the area around your paper because the colors splatters can go beyond the paper as well. So you can simply mix color in your brush. And one of the quick ways hitting it against another brush are hitting another brush against your brush. Both of these will achieve slight different look. And for a bit more controlled splatter, look, pick color in your brush and simply tap it a bit strongly. It creates smaller drops, which are a bit more controlled. So we'll be using some splatters today, so you can practice this already. So these were some of the very basic techniques that we have used in this class. 5. Poppy Types and Reference Images : When it comes to poppies, there are quite a few varieties out there, mostly with four to six petals. Let's have a look at a few of them. So puppies can be these luscious oriental poppies. They can be the common Flander's or Shirley poppies that you often see growing by the roadside along with other wild flowers. Icelandic poppies come with these gorgeous colors and a beautiful texture. California poppies have a peculiar shape and a beautiful orange color. And himalayan poppies, although rare, have a beautiful blue color. Most of the poppies that we have painted in this class have been inspired by common Flanders poppy. But for one of the projects, I have taken a combined inspiration from oriental and Icelandic poppies. For composition reference, you can look at some of your own photographs. Or you can also use royalty-free image websites like Unsplash to find some reference images. Here are a few that I've picked for you. Before we get started with the painting, I just wanted to show you a closer look at the poppies that I have just picked from along the road side here. So as you can see, the stem is quite hairy and thin. This is how the flower looks like. From the bottom, you can see the darker black spot here. It has four petals to smaller one towards the inside and two bigger ones towards the outer side. The petals have darker black with a white line spot. Towards the center. In the center you can see a seed pod surrounded by stamens with anther dots. This one doesn't have the black spot but has darker red center. Another example. So when you're taking your own photographs of the poppies, try to click them from different angles to give you a variety of reference images. Here you can also see the leaves. Here's a closer look at a petal. And here's the seed pod without the petals around it. Now let's get started with our projects. 6. Style 1 Brushstrokes Practice: So the first style that we're exploring is stylized representation. In the world of art, stylization means that instead of representing something, how it is in nature or is traditionally represented, you are using the help of techniques like simplification of line and form, playing with space and color, using a bit of exaggeration to create a nontraditional representation. This might sound a bit difficult, but let me show you a few examples. So this is how you break down a poppy flower. It has four to six petals, often red in color. Sometimes they have a black spot towards the center. It is dense anther dots surrounding a prominent seed head with some radial lines on it. These are some of the examples of stylized representation. You can see how the flower form has been simplified. And you can see a little bit of exaggeration in some of the features as well. Now, let's practice some brush strokes that we are going to use to paint our stylized poppies today. For that, Let's mix some color. I'm mixing some Winsor Red here. You can start practicing with any color. Now, pick your mop brush, Or a pointed soft round brush. Pick the color. If you're using a pan set. Mix the color separately so that you can load your brush nicely. And now I want you to try and create some shapes similar to the letter C. So hold your brush at the bottom. Start with just the tip of the brush. Press down and lift as you're coming out. Try making some overlapping ‘C’s. So I'm just starting with just the tip of the brush, then pressing it gently and lifting as I’m coming out. You use similar brush strokes to create roses. So practice this brush stroke. Try creating some curves like this. Try to vary the width by pressing the brush are releasing the pressure. We’ll also be using a number 2 round pointed brush. Let's mix some indigo. Just to show you some brushstrokes. With my number two round brush, try to practice creating circular shapes. Hold the brush quite low. To have a bit of control. If you're going to hold the brush too high, you will not be very happy with how you make your circle. So try to hold the brush quite low. Fill it up. Try creating fine lines like this. Do the same with your fine detail brush. Just some fine lines. And also try to create little anther dot shapes. So some oval shapes. Some of them filled up. Just little dots. To paint the stem. You're going to need. To create lines. You can make them a bit wavy. Are keep them straight. Again, holding the brush quite low. Just using the tip of the brush, pressing it very gently. I'm trying to keep the pressure uniform to keep the width of this line almost uniform throughout the length. So these were some simple brush strokes that you can practice before you move on to the project In the next section. 7. Project 1 Stylized Representation : Now let's get started with our project and paint some stylized poppies. Let's mix some colors. I'm going to pick some Winsor Red To that. I'm going to add some Perylene Maroon to darken it up. There are many ways in which you can darken up a red. You can add a complimentary color, like a touch of green to it. Sometimes you can add a bit of brown to it. You can also add something like a deeper red color like Perylene Maroon with any other red that you have, Perylene Maroon all by itself is a bit too dark for me. But it's a quick way to darken up any other red that I want. That's fine. Let's also mix some green. So I'm starting with some Sap Green To that, I will add a little bit of Quinacridone Gold That's fine. Will also be needing pure Ivory black. Now, let's get started. You can already map out the flowers where you want them to be or simply get started as I'm doing with my number two round brush, I'm going to pick the green mix. And with that, I'm creating a circular shape. Now with my mop brush. I'm going to pick the red that I have mixed. It's a combination of Winsor Red and Perylene Maroon. And I'm going to create that C brush stroke that we practiced earlier, slightly away from the green circular shape. Another one. Let's create one more. Again. Those overlapping see brushstrokes. Starting thin, pushing my brush down and lifting as I'm coming out. So total of four stylized petals. It's okay if they're touching each other. You can also paint just the seed heads first, all of them and then add the petals. Or you can create individual flower like this. So it's almost similar to the brushstroke that is used to paint roses. We're just limiting the number of them. So for roses, you create quite a few of these brushstrokes. Here we are limiting it to just four brushstrokes. Now, I've painted three of the seed heads. Two..three..four I tried to keep my flowers in odd numbers to bring a bit of interest. So add one more here. Now wait for this to dry just a little bit before we start adding the anther dots. This one in the center has dried. To create the anther dots. There are couple of ways. You can either pick detail brush like 0 to or triple 0, pure black color any black that you have in your color palette. Or if you don't have a black, you can use a darker color like Indigo and simply paint the anther dots, as I will show you. The other ways to either use a small marker or a pen like this one. If you want a bit more texture in there, you can also use a watercolor pencil like this. So I will show you all of these different ways here. Let's first start with the brush. I'm going to pick Black or Ivory black. I'm just touching the brush on the tissue paper to remove excess moisture. And with that, I'm going to paint some dots. I'm picking some pure Ivory black. And using just the tip of my brush. I'm painting these anther dots. Some of them hollow. Some of them filled up, some small, some slightly bigger. Some of them a bit more closer to the seed head. And some of them just a little bit farther. So here I'm using just a simple detail brush and pure Ivory black or any black that you have to create these details. You can also use a black fine liner like this. To create these shapes. If you would like a bit of texture, you can use a watercolor pencil like this. But if you don't have those, you can stick with a simple detail brush and any black that you have in your color palette. Let's continue with the rest of them. Just make sure that the red has dried. Else your black will bleed into the red. I'm painting some anthers that are closer. And on the white area, the paper white. And some of them are overlapping on the red area as well. It's just a stylized representation. So you do not need to worry too much about similarity with an actual flower. Here the green has bled into the red, but don't worry about it. It rather looks nice like this. If you want, you can also connect these dots to the center seed head. I'm going to leave mine floating like this. But feel free to use a fine liner or a smaller detail brush to connect them to the center. I'm again going to pick that green that we use to paint the center and create these radial lines on the seed head. You can also use black for it. You can shift to even a thinner brush than this one. This one is still a bit wet I’m waiting with it a little bit. In the meantime, let's add the stalks so you can make them a bit wavy, slightly bent, or you can also keep them quite straight. So with our green and quinacridone gold mix, I'll start with this center one. So it's not a perfectly straight line, giving it just a little wave in there. This flower is in the front, some discontinuing the line. And starting again right underneath. I'm pressing my brush just very gently. And keeping the pressure uniform. You can also draw these lines and the positioning of flowers with some pencil guidelines before you begin. I've added the radial lines here. Now. My number two round brush and some Ivory black. I'm going to create just a little shadow on this seed head. So starting on top and just creating a shape of letters C, not encircling the whole seed head. Just creating a letter C on the outer boundary of the seed head. Let's not forget to add the radial lines here. As I mentioned earlier, you can connect these dots to the center with a fine liner or even a fine brush like number 0. So this was an easy way of creating some stylized puppies. I really hope you enjoyed this project. 8. Style 2 Brushstroke Practice : For this next project, we're going to make use of the transparency of the watercolor and the technique of glazing to create these transparent layered look of paper like petals of poppies. Now let's practice the brush stroke and the technique for this project or this technique I'm going to use two round brushes. I've got a number four and number two here. Let's make some colors. So to achieve the optimum result for this technique, you need your colors to be either semi-transparent or transparent, so that you can see the color and the layer underneath it. I've got Transparent Orange and Winsor Red, which is a semi-transparent color. So let's create a mix with a bit of Transparent Orange and some Winsor Red. Now, using this mix, paint, one petal first. So just holding my brush at the base. And I'm painting petal shape with multiple brushstrokes. You do not need to paint it all in just one brush stroke. You can paint two petals. Depending on from which angle you're looking at a poppy. You can paint either one petal for the first layer or two. Now comes the difficult part that is to wait for this layer to dry completely before you add the next layer on top of it. In the meantime, we can pick some green in our number two round brush and practice making uniform width. Little stem. You can make it completely straight. Give it a little bit of wave in there. Something like this. Let's also look how we paint a leaf. So one straight line, give these lines on the side. And then using little brush strokes like this. So using multiple small brush strokes, we are able to paint this leaf for puppies. So now that this one has dried, I'm going to pick same mix. You can alter it a bit. You can add a little bit more red or a little bit more orange. But for now I'll pick the same mix. And now I'm going to add another layer on top of this dried layer, very gently trying not to disturb the color underneath it. If the color is pulling at one place, simply lift it with your brush like this and pat it on a piece of tissue paper. Let's paint one more petal colors pooling here. So patting my brush on the piece of tissue paper and just lifting the excess water from this petal here, patting it again on the tissue paper. And now we're going to wait for these two petals to completely dry before we add the fourth petal. These here have now dried to begin, add the second set of the petals. So again, taking that same mix, adding this layer very gently, just glazing this color on top. Again, the border is pooling here. Back to your brush on the piece of tissue paper and with just the tip of your brush, soak up the excess moisture. Here's the third petal, and now let's paint the fourth one. So now you can see all four petals, two of them up in front and two right behind them. And while your final petals are still slightly wet. Mix of ivory black. Remove excess moisture from your brush and just add it to the base here. If you add this black a bit too early, it will bleed quite a bit. But if you want to keep this black dot a bit more controlled, Wait just a little bit and also remove excess moisture from your brush by padding it against tissue paper. Here, the two petals have dried. So I'm going back in with my final petal, giving the top edge a little bit of wavy look. And while it's still wet, let's add the ivory black. Just at the base. Not much water in my brush. And this is how we will be painting these poppies in this project. So as you can see, the brushstrokes are very simple, but all that you need is a bit of patience to wait between the layers and let them dry completely. In the next lesson, Let's get started with the project. 9. Project 2 Transparent Layered Part I: Now let's get started with the project. You can create small guidelines for yourself. Just to decide where you're going to place the flowers. Just simple guidelines. I'm not drawing each flavor. Just simple dots to remind me where I want to place these flowers and a few unopened buds. Now let's mix our colors. I'm going to start the first mix with Winsor Red And to that I'm going to add a little bit of Transparent Orange. This is the color. I'll also create another mix which will have a bit more of Transparent Orange and just a little bit of Windsor Red in it. So this first mix here has more of Winsor Red and small amount of Transparent Orange. We'll use this for the very first petal. And this larger mix which has more of Transparent Orange and just a little bit of Windsor Red in it looks a bit more orange-ish, is a bit more watery as well to create transparency, and we'll use this for the rest of the petals. Let's also make some green. So I'm picking some simple Sap Green. Here is some simple Sap green. To this mix. I'm going to add a little bit of iIndigo, making it a bit darker. We'll also need some Ivory Black. I'm just activating it here. Now let's get started. My number four round brush. I'm picking the first mix, which has more Winsor Red and less of Transparent Orange. And with that, I'm going to paint the very first petal. Another flower here. For this one, I'm painting two petals for the base layer. Sometimes you might get some harsh lines because of uneven drying on the paper, but do not worry too much about it. The texture of poppy petals is so delicate that they do crease very quickly. So it kind of adds to the look. So do not worry too much if your water is not drying evenly. Let's paint one more here. I'll paint one of them as if it's slightly bent. The last one here. You can add as many you'd like. And now we will have to wait for all of these to dry before we start adding the next layer on top. It's been about three minutes, and these petals have almost dried completely. The drying time will vary based on the temperature, the humidity of your room, and also the amount of water you used to create the base layer. Now, with my same number four round brush, I'm going to pick the second mix which has a bit more of Transparent Orange and a bit of Windsor Red in it. And with that, I'm going to paint the second layer of petals very gently trying not to disturb the color underneath it. So that's the second petal. Here comes the third one. We'll wait for these to dry before we add the final one on top. Now let's add two more, To this flower here. So I'm trying to paint the petals with some part overlapping with the existing pedal and some on the white of the paper. Now, since these are the final petals for this flower, I'm going to go ahead and pick some Ivory black, removing excess moisture from my brush. So quite a thick mix and just adding it at the base here. Let's continue adding more petals to this one here. When you're working on multiple flowers at the same time, you don't have to wait too much between layers. Because while I'm working on this flower here, the very first one is almost dried. But do make sure that it has dried completely before you add any more color on top. Again, this has already two petals. So we'll be adding the final two on top and then also adding the little black spot at the base. If you feel your brush has too much water, simply pat on a piece of tissue paper. Now while it's still wet, let's add the ivory black. Don't forget to remove the excess moisture. We have the final one here. 10. Project 2 Transparent Layered Part II: Now we'll wait for these to dry. In the meantime, we can start adding the little flower buds. So I'm picking some simple Sap Green. This top one has dried. Now, let's go back in with our second mixture that we have been using to add these overlapping petals. It has more of Transparent Orange and less of Windsor Red in it. And with that, let's paint the final petal. When you're removing the excess moisture. Try not to scrape the paper too much, you'd be disturbing the layer underneath it. Gently touch your brush and remove excess moisture like that. While it's still wet. Let's add the black dot. Let's add the final petal for this one here. Adding the black dot. Now, this final one here. And with this our flowers are complete. I'm now moving to my smaller brush, the number two round brush that I'm going to pick the very first mix that we use to create the first petals. And I'm going to add just a little bit of petals in here to show a bud that's just opening up a little bit. Now I'll wait just a little bit for all of these petals to dry before I add the stems to them. So I've got some simple Sap Green in my brush. Keeping the pressure on the brush uniform. If you will change the pressure, the weight of the line that you're making will vary. I was a bit impatient here. So the color is spreading, but quickly. Use your brush to pick up the excess moisture. And we'll reinforce it with the black. So I'm using simple Sap Green here. Let's add a few leaves. For now. I'm simply picking plain Sap Green. So simple little brush strokes like this. Little dashes join together. It was a bit of empty space here, so I've decided to add one more unopened bud here. And now with my darker green mix, I'm going to go back in and add a few darker spots on these stems. So instead of just a flat one type of green stem, you're giving it a little bit of shadow. Doing the same to the leaves as well. You can also add the little hairy marks. I'll pick that same original mix of the very first petal, and add another layer on top. Now if you want to add some hairy marks, just the tip of your fine brush, you can create marks like this. All along the stem. Making this stem a bit fuzzy. If you don't like the look, you can completely skip this part. And with this, our transparent layered puppies are done, I really hope you enjoyed this project. Just try to think that these are not difficult brushstrokes. Just you need a little bit of patience to wait between the layers to achieve this look. 11. Style 3 Flat Brush: I'm describing this next style that we are going to be painting with as simply charming and depictive. We're going to be concentrating on our brush movement and brush strokes to create different looks of poppies. For these poppies, our main focus is on our brushstrokes. I'll be showing you how to paint these poppies using either mop brush or a flat brush, or even a simple round brush. Let's mix some colors. And first practice painting these poppies using a flat brush. We're going to need a lot of color. So I'm first mixing some Winsor Red, some Transparent Orange, some Perylene Maroon, Ivory black, some Sap Green. Now I'm going to pick my number eight flat brush. But you can also try using cat's tongue brush, which has a curved top. First, I'm going to pick simple Winsor Red in my brush. This is a synthetic brush. And with that, I will show you how to paint the poppies. But if you have a natural hair brush, you will be easily able to paint these poppies using even lesser brush strokes. I've loaded my brush, I'm holding it at an angle. First, I'm going to use just this little tip here. Touch it on the paper. And then I'm going to push the whole brush down towards the top. Go back in. Push the whole brush towards top. With this simple brushstrokes, you are already able to achieve something that looks like a poppy. While the base is still wet here. going with the Ivory Black or any black that you have. Not much water in my brush. Just add it here at the base. You want to add this black when the base layer is still wet. If you'll be a bit late, then this black will remain like a harsh spot there. So this was a very simple poppy with just simple brushstrokes. Now, I'm going to pick my brush, first pick some Winsor Red, and then I'm going to pick some Transparent Orange in it, just on the edge here. And with that, I'm creating the same brushstrokes. Loading two colors in the brush gives a nice variation. Because you're not mixing those colors. So you are able to see two different colors kind of mix right on the paper. So it's entirely up to you. If you want to go from bottom to top or come from top to bottom, it just creates slightly different look. Do add the black dot while the petals are still wet. Now this is just a very simplified version. Now, let's see how we can paint some two petals look. So first petal, And here's the second petal with a bit of separation here. Now, let's paint one with three petals. So one, second, third. Let's see, one with four petals. Try to keep the top broad. Second petal. Third. Instead of a similar looking petal I'm going to paint it flat like this. As if the flower is slightly bent. Adding the black in the center. Let's see it one more time. First, second, third, fourth one Laying flat like this. So the brush stroke is like this. You can simply add just black in the center and just a touch of green in there as well. Using just the point of the brush here, the corner of the edge. You can create fine lines to create the stems like this. So simply practice this brush stroke with your flat brush to create the poppies. In the next lesson, let's try painting these poppies using a mop brush. 12. Style 3 Mop Brush: Now let's paint these Poppies using a mop brush. I've got number one, Da Vinci Petit Gris Pur I'm going to load it with some Winsor Red and just a touch off, Transparent Orange And with that, I'm first going to touch the tip of the brush and then I'm going to push the belly of the brush down. One. And here's the second brushstroke. Don't forget to add the black at the base. So this is a very simple look of a poppy. Here you can see just one petal. Let's paint this shape multiple times so that I can show you how to turn it from one petal look to multiple petals. You can paint these poppies using just one color. I tried to add two colors because it creates a nice variation within my brushstroke. Now, let's turn this one into a two petals. Look. So again, loading my brush similar way, Winsor Red, Transparent Orange And I'm going to start here near the base. And just create one extra petal out like this. Also adding the dark spot where it starts. Let's turn this one into a three petal look. So similar way, Winsor Red, then Transparent Orange not starting right at the base, slightly away from it on the right side. Second petal.. You can start from the base and go up or come from top and connected to the base. Let's see this three Petal look one more time. So Winsor Red , Transparent Orange, starting slightly away from the base. So this was the second petal. Now for the third one, I can come from top and connect it to the base, or start from the base and go up on top. It's okay if your petals overlap, that's how they are in the nature. Let's paint one with slightly closed look but still three petals visible. This time. Instead of making them this open, you keep them quite close to the body of the main petal. Now let's try to see the four petal look. So I'm going to pick Winsor Red, Transparent Orange I'm going to start slightly away from the base here. Go along the edge and followed the top, add just a little bit. That's my second petal. Again, loading the brush. I'm washing my brush in-between because I've picked some black in there. You can use a separate brush to add black. Now again loading my brush with Winsor red and Transparent orange. And with that, I'll paint the third petal here. The fourth one, flared out like this. Add the black at the base of all of them. So here you can see all four of the petals without seeing the center. Let's see it one more time. Winsor Red Transparent orange, slightly away from the center. Starting with just the tip of my brush. Pushing the brush down slightly, following the edge of the first petal, slightly to the top. Reload my brush. Third petal and fourth petal spread out like this. Black at the base. Now, let's try to paint a poppy where you can see all the four petals but also the center. So again, loaded my brush with the same mix. Winsor red and transparent orange. Starting with just the tip of the brush. First petal, second, third, fourth, one flat just the way we practiced earlier with the flat brush. Like this. So that it looks like the flower is bent. Can add the darker center. Let's see this look one more time. First petal, second. Touching the tip, then pushing the belly for two. And you can paint similar one for three. Fourth one You can make it flat like this. And then add the black in the center. You can also add a bit of green in the center. While we have green in our brush, Let's see. Using just the tip of the brush and very slight pressure, you can paint the stem of the poppies and an unopened bud to paint a slightly opened up, but you first paint a leaf like structure with green. Attach it to this stem like this. And then pick your petal color and just add it to the inner edge like this. So now it looks like as if the petal is about to open up. With your mop brush. Practice the brushstroke of touching the tip, pushing the brush away, lifting, going back in at the base. Same brush stroke to create a petal. In the next lesson, let's practice painting these puppies using a round brush. 13. Style 3 Round Brush : Now let's paint these poppies using a round brush. I've got a number four round brush. So I'll be painting these poppies using multiple brushstrokes. But if you have a higher number brush, you'll be able to achieve the same look using lesser brushstrokes. Now let's load our brush. So picking some Winsor Red And just like we did earlier with flat and mop brush, I'm picking some Transparent Orange in just the tip of the brush. And then I'm going to push the brush up, rinsing my brush, loading it again. If you have a bigger brush, you'll be able to achieve this look in one or two brushstrokes. So that's the very simple form. Adding the black at the base. Let's paint this multiple times so that I can show you different forms of poppy. So Winsor Red and Transparent Orange After picking black with the same brush, I always rinse my brush in-between. While painting the petals. You can also just rinse your brush and spread the color that you've already put on the paper. It gives a nice color variation to your petal And while the petal is still wet, add the black at the base. If the petal would dry, then you would have a harsh black spot. So let's look at the brushstroke one more time. Holding the brush at the pace. Just touching the tip of the brush first, then pushing the brush down. Lifting, going back in. If your brush can hold that much color. Going with fresh color or just rinse your brush and spread the color out into a petal that's broad on top and slightly tapered at the base. Rinsing my brush this time not loading it again, just using the water in my brush to spread that color. Now, let's turn this one into a two petal look. So simply reloading my brush, Winsor Red , Transparent Orange And then I'm going to start not at the base, slightly away from the base, but connected to the first petal. See it one more time. Now add the black. Let's turn this one into three petal look Winsor Red, Transparent Orange not at the base, slightly away here. Second. And then third one coming from top, joined at the base. Let's see this one more time. One on the left side starting from top, going down. Another one from bottom going up. This one is still wet, so we'll wait for it to dry a little bit. But for this one, I'll show you how to paint a four petal look. Where you cannot see the center. So same mix. Winsor Red Transparent Orange Now look how I'm going to use my brush to trace the shape just around this petal. So touching just the tip slightly away from the base, following the edge of the earlier petal going slightly above it. That's my second petal. It's right behind this one. Third petal And for the fourth one, I find it easier to start from top to bottom like this. And then pick some black to add to all of their base. Let's see it one more time. First petal Reloading my brush. Starting slightly away from the base, going to trace the edge of the first petal, going slightly above it. For the second petal. Third petal opened up like this and fourth one starting from top, coming down like this. Now, let's see a look where you can see the center and all the four petals. So same, loading. Some Winsor Red and Transparent Orange , starting at the base from the center, going outward. Rinsing my brush. First petal, second petal. Third Here's the fourth one. The center. You can also add a bit of green in the center. Now, let's paint one where it looks like as if the flower is slightly bent. So some Winsor red, Transparent orange. First, second, third. For fourth , just like we practiced earlier. Painted flat like this. So the brushstroke is that your brush with just the tip. Push the brush away. Either reload or rinse your brush and spread the earlier color. And turn it into a petal shape, which is broad up on top and tapered at the bottom. You can paint these poppies more spontaneously without waiting, but then the petals won't be that demarcated. So while you're painting the first one, you can go ahead and paint the second or third petal right away. Picking some green in my brush. And with that, keeping the brush pressure uniform, using just the tip of the brush. Adding these stems. Using just the tip, you can add little hairy marks on the stem. Let's also see how to paint leaves. So say this is a stem. One fine line. Add smaller ones on the side. And now with small marks like this, joined together. I've painted Poppy leaf. Let's see it one more time. Fine line. So simple brushstrokes, small ones just connected together, create the look of a leaf. To paint an unopened bud. Simply create a leaf shaped like this, added to a stem like that. And to create a look where the petals are slightly opening up. First, create the green part. Rinse your brush. Pick the color of the petals. Just waiting for this to dry because we need to paint the petals on this inner edge here. Right now the green is wet. If I'll add the petal there, it is going to bleed. I'll show it to you here. So here you can see the petals opening up with this, but do show the form of a seed head where the petals have fallen. Simply paint kind of an oval shape with broad center and then little radial lines up on top. So broad in the center, radial lines on top. So these were the poppies. And now that we have practiced them, pick your favorite round flat or a mop brush. And in the next lesson, let's paint a project with these poppies 14. Project 3 Expressive and Depictive : Now let's get started with the project. I'm going to be painting some poppies using a number one mop brush and number four round brush. If you're coming here directly, you can watch previous lessons where I've explained how to paint these poppies using a mop brush or a round brush, or a flat brush. So before we get started, I'd like to quickly add a few guidelines just to decide where to place the flowers. Now, let's mix the colors. I have not created the whole flowers, just giving myself a little pencil marks to decide where to put the flowers. We're going to need a lot of colors. So I'm mixing some Winsor Red some Transparent Orange. Let's also mix some Ivory black and some Sap Green. Now, I'm going to start with the very first flower here. I will paint the four petal look where you can see the center. So in my mop brush, I'm going to pick some Winsor Red followed by just the tip of the brush dipped in Transparent Orange. Starting from the center. Painting, the first petal, the second one, third one, and fourth laying flat like this. Going to pick some ivory black. I'm going to just touch the wet centers. Now for remaining flowers. Let's first paint the first petal of each of them. Going in with the black while it's still wet. Let's add a few more. Let's paint one more, looking similar to this one. Here. The number one. Second, third. And this time fully open fourth petal. Let's add the black. I'm leaving a little white center so that I can later add some green. One more here. One here. Now we can go back in and turn them into two petals, three petal, or even four petal looks. So now I'm going to take my number four round brush. Picking the Winsor Red, followed by the tip of the brush dipped in Transparent Orange. And I'm going to turn this into a three. petal look. Starting not at the base, slightly away from it. Here's the second petal. Third one, starting from top, coming down to the base. Add the black. Let's turn this one into a four petal look. So similar way load the brush. Winsor Red and Transparent Orange, not starting at the base, slightly away from it. Following the edge of the earlier petal, going slightly above it. Here's the second petal. Third one on the side and forth, one coming from top down like this. Don't forget to add the black at the base. Just the second petal Let's add another one here. The second petal, third. For this one, let's add just one petal on the side. For a two petal look. Now I'm going to pick some Sap Green. And I'm just going to add a little green dot in the center of these two flowers. Now I'm going to decide where I will place a few. buds that are opening up. With my round number four brush. I'm going to paint a small bud here. One here. Another one here. Also a seed head through an oval shape, broad in the middle. Some radial lines up on top. Now let's connect these buds, two little stems. Just be careful if the petals are wet don't go too close to them else the green will bleed into them. Adding these thin stems to all of the flowers. If you want, you can add the little hairy marks as well. I've got a little bit of color spread here, but I'm not going to worry too much about it. Let's add a little bit of petals that are visible from these buds that are opening up to the same Windsor Red color towards them. Inner edge of this flower buds. Let's add a few leaves. So some Sap green. If you want, you can add a bit of red to it as well. Now simple dashes, just using the tip of the brush, not pressing it down. Just connected dashes. Let's add one here. Now just going back in wherever I've missed bit of stem. Just adding a few darker spots at some of the places on the stems. That prevents them from looking too flat. Going back in with some ivory black and just adding a few extra anther dots. Since now the flower has dried. I can simply add these. With some Ivory black, making some of these radial lines on the seed heads bit better visible. If you want to add some special effects, you can simply add a few splatters of red. But I would like to leave mine like this. And this our project is finished. I really hope you enjoyed this project. 15. Style 4 Brushstroke & Masking Fluid: For this next project, we're going to be painting poppies using a loose style. When it comes to loose style, people often assume it's just simple, flowy brush strokes. But I rather feel that these brushstrokes bring with them the sense of energy and movement and often a bit of exaggeration, depending on how the artist wants to express. Although they seem easy, it does take a little bit of effort to gain control over your brush to create these brushstrokes, I recommend you to pick your favorite brushes and paint these flowing brushstrokes. Practice a lot to gain confidence over your brush so that you can paint these brushstrokes quite effortlessly. In this lesson, I'll be showing you some of the brushstrokes we have used for the project. But before we get started with the brushstrokes, I want to show you how we will use masking fluid to create some white highlights are saved the paper white. So this is a bottle of masking fluid. Right now its consistency is almost similar to double cream. And you can apply it on a dry paper with the help of either an old brush or something pointed like a nib of a pen, or something like a wooden skewer. Just make sure not to use your nicer brush because it does tend to ruin the brushes. And also you can dip your brush prior to use in some soapy water. Use the masking fluid and then wash the brush immediately after that. I like to use this disposable wooden skewers. I use both the sides. This one is the blunt side, and here's the sharper side. For any finer lines. I've poured some out in a small bottle cap like this. It's a quite smelly, sticky liquid. Now, let's see how to apply it. Wherever you want to preserve the white of the paper and don't want any color getting there. Simply apply masking fluid there. I'll be using masking fluid to create some anther dots. You can use the sharper side to create real fine lines with it. Right now it's wet. So you will have to wait for this to dry completely before you add the color on top of it. Some people have problems removing masking fluid and they complain that when we remove the masking fluid, it rips the paper with it. There are few tricks to avoid that. First of all, I like to use masking fluid on relatively smooth paper and not on really textured cold press or textured rough papers. Second, make sure that when you're applying masking fluid, your paper should be completely dry. And other one is make sure masking fluid is dry when you're adding color on top. And also it's completely dried. And the layer of color is dry when you're removing the masking fluid. And also don't dilute masking fluid too much because then it seeps into the paper and when you're rubbing it, it will rip the paper with it. So we will wait for these to dry. In the meantime, let's practice some brushstrokes. Let's mix some colors. So I'm mixing some Winsor Red, some Transparent Orange. Today I'll be using a mop number 0 from Da Vinci, along with a number Four Princeton velvet touch round brush. Number two, Da Vinci cosmotop spin, round brush. So pick your brush and try to create different kinds of brushstrokes. and your brush movement so that you can gain confidence with your own brush. Here I'm loading the brush with simple Winsor Red. Try to use just the tip of the brush to create fine lines. I'm creating some fine lines. some straight ones, some curved ones. When you hold the brush a bit higher up, you're able to create a bit more loose brushstrokes. I'm trying to touch the brush, then push, then left. Repeat that. Fine, pushed, fine line. Pushed, left again, push again. Now let's load the brush with two colors. So I'm picking some Winsor Red and then touching the tip of the brush in Transparent Orange. And with that, I get two different colors in my brushstroke. You can mix the two colors separately before loading them, but then you will get a homogeneous mix. This way, when you're loading two colors directly in your brush, you will get a slight color variation when you're applying the brushstroke. So try to create petal shapes. Touch, push and lift. Dutch push and lift. Tried to hold it higher up create some repeated movements like this. So I'm keeping my wrist steady, my hand steady, and just letting my fingers move like this. Let's see it one more time. Push and lift, touch push and lift Sometimes I just use the tip of the brush, holding the brush higher-up to create these brushstrokes. So practice this with your own mop brush. Let's do the same. With a round brush. You will get thinner brush strokes. So fine lines try to make curves. Try to make fine lines like this. Straight ones wavy ones little dashes little dots, dabs, and then push the brush down to see how broad of a brushstroke you're able to make. Use multiple brushstrokes to create a petal shape. Some of these dots are drying, but some of them are still wet So don't add the color just yet. Wait for them to dry completely. When they are dry, you will touch them and it will free like rubber. So that's the moment when you can add the color on top of it. The meantime, let's continue practicing. Try to create straight lines. Some leafy shapes. So these are poppies, leaves just made up of dashes connected together. Let me show you fresh here. So a straight line like this, some side ones like this. And then little dashes connected together. Just using the tip of the brush with very slight pressure. Here's your leaf. Learn this brush movement of back-and-forth. Keeping your wrist steady and just moving your fingers to create these brushstrokes. Now that the masking fluid has dried, I'm touching it. I can feel that it has dried. It feels rubbery. So I can add a layer of color on top. And you can see wherever we have added masking fluid, it resists the color. So the color will not get on the paper at those places. We will have to wait for this layer to dry before we remove the masking fluid while this layer dries, let me show you how to create some splatters that add a little more sense of looseness in your painting. So simply pick some color in your brush. You can either just flick the brush like this. To create some controlled splatters or hit it against another brush or a pen like this. You can also use a toothbrush or a hard brush to create finer but bigger areas platters. Now, the bottom layer has dried. I can remove the masking fluid. You can remove it just by your hand. It pulls up nicely. You can also use an eraser and that also picks the masking fluid with it. or wrap a little bit of Saran (cling) wrap on your finger. And you'll be able to remove this masking fluid. So when dried it feels like little pieces of rubber. Here you can see that the orange that we applied did not get on these places and we have fine details. The paper white in them. You can further go in and add more details to these areas. So this is how we will use masking fluid today. Now, let's get started with the project. 16. Project 4 Loose Style Part I: Now let's get started with the project. I've got a bigger sheet of paper this time. It's still joined to the block here. So I don't need to tape it. In my day-to-day paintings. I do not need to sketch. But if you want to make sure that your composition is right, you can simply create some rough lines for yourself. Just little guidelines to decide where to place the flowers, how big to put them. I'll be creating two big flowers here with their centers visible. I'm just making little rough marks. I'm not drawing them completely just to decide where I will add the masking fluid. But if you would like to add more details, feel free to take your time and create a detailed drawing first. I want to paint the petals quite loosely, but I want to keep the center nice and bright. That's why I'll be using the masking fluid. So here's our masking fluid. I'm going to mask the center, which I want to keep slightly light green. Just using the back of the skewer to create oval-shaped dots. Same for this one. You can make these dots as dense as you would like. And now we will have to wait for these masking fluid marks to completely dry before we add the color on top. While these dots are drying, let's get our colors ready. I'll be using three colors to paint the petals. Winsor Red, Transparent Orange Perylene Maroon. We'll also need some Black, Sap Green Indigo. I'll be picking the colors directly from here. So I don't need to create mixes. For loose style. I prefer the colors mixing on the paper. I'm also activating some Permanent Yellow Deep and Quinacridone Gold. Finer marks like little dots and lines don't take long to dry. But if it's a bit of a blob or a little drop, then it will take some time to dry. So be a bit patient with it. 17. Project 4 Loose Style Part II: Now our masking fluid has dried completely. I'm touching it and it feels quite rubbery and it's not coming on my hand anymore. So we can get started. I'm going to first paint a big flower here. When I paint loosely, I do tend to paint quite fast to bring in a bit of energy in my brushstrokes. But I'll try to be a bit slow here so that you can see what I'm doing. But try to pay attention to how I'm holding the brush and how I'm moving the brush. So for the first one, I'll pick some Winsor Red loading nicely. And then touching the tip of the brush in Perylene Maroon. And with that, I'm going to start touching very close to the anther dots. One big brushstroke, some thinner ones using just the tip of the brush. Don't worry about leaving the white of the paper. You don't need to cover everything. Loading the colors same way for all the petals. Adding these fine lines. To add a bit of exaggeration. Now I'm going to pick some Permanent Yellow Deep and a touch of Transparent Orange. And I'm adding that to the center. The white area here, going back in with some Winsor Red. So adding multiple colors here to create a lighter but varying center. So some yellow, some orange bit of red in there. And while all of this is still wet, I'm going to pick some thick mix of ivory black, removing excess moisture. And with that, I'm going to add some black spots on the petals. I do not want this black to bleed uncontrollably. So I'm removing excess moisture, but I'm adding it around the center around where the dots are. Now we'll wait for this one to dry. In the meantime, let's focus on the second one. For that one, I'm going to pick three colors. Some Winsor Red, Transparent Orange, and then Perylene Maroon and similar brushstrokes. Some broad ones, something once reloading my brush. So starting from where the antidotes are, pushing my brush away, bringing it back. Again, picking some yellow, some orange. and a touch of Winsor Red. And adding to the center, it has quite a bit of a puddle here. So I'm going to wait just a little bit to add the black. In the meantime, let's add a flower here. So same mix, Winsor Red, Transparent Orange, and Perylene Maroon. And this time, look at my brushstroke. I'm holding the brush quite high. Thin line, one broad another broad, another thin line on the side. So a mix of thin and broad brushstrokes. I will add black here because it will dry very fast. Now we can add black here as well. So some Ivory Black removing excess moisture. Adding it while the center is drying. Let's go ahead and add some stocks. I'm taking my round number 4 Princeton velvet touch brush. Try to already decide which way you're going to add the stock starting from bottom. One fine line. To create a bud here. let's also add the stem here. Few extra buds just a few extra dots and dashes here to give an impression of leaves. So some long brush strokes and then little dashes along. A little bit of Indigo dropped in there. Going back in with my Winsor Red Transparent Orange. And then I'm going to add a flower petal opening up there. Just adding a bit of Indigo to these flower buds You can see how loosely I've painted the bottom part here. So you can see how I have a slightly detailed center, but then the flower itself is lose, the bottom part of the plant is quite loose here. So it creates a nice variation within your composition. Not everything is super tight, not everything is super loose. It's a nice mix of the two styles. While all of this is drying, especially the Center's still wet. I'm going to go back in with some Winsor Red and Perylene Maroon and create little marks like this using just the tip of my round number four brush. Not all over the petals. Just at a few places. The petals of poppy or paper-like so they crease very easily. So adding this kind of marks gives an impression of some creases. Just a few on each of the petals Also going back in with the mix of Windsor Red, Transparent Orange, and some Perylene Maroon. And creating another layer on top here. Just to give an impression of the petals that are towards you, while the center is still quite wet. I'll add just little touches here and there. Picking again some Winsor Red Perylene Maroon, going to add a little shadow marks. Still keeping my brush strokes quite lose. These centers are still drying. I'm just going around seeing if I need to add anywhere, some extra brushstrokes, these petals are looking slightly extra frayed. So I'm just adding a few brushstrokes, to blend them in. 18. Project 4 Loose Style Part III: Now the center has completely dried. It doesn't feel cool to touch anymore. So you can use just your finger to remove the masking fluid. or an eraser like this. or wrap your finger in a piece of Saran (cling wrap) Saran wrap and just rub on the places where you applied the masking fluid. And it pulls the dried masking fluid with it. So now we're left with really crisp white of the paper. Now let's add some details to the center. I'm going to create light mix of sap green. And with that, I'm going to paint the center first. While that dries. I'm going to use this mix of light green and some permanent yellow. And with that, I'm going to add a little color to these anther dots I'm picking sometimes the yellow, sometimes the light green. Also not covering all the white of the paper. Just adding little bit of color. At some places. I'm using light green here. So now you can see the use of masking fluid. And with that, we are able to achieve these lighter marks while the background underneath is relatively dark. I'm going to pick a little bit of indigo in my number two round brush. And with that I'm going to create a fine line in between some of the bigger anther dots, giving them a bit more oval, rounded shape. If you want to leave it quite loose like this, you can obviously simply skip this part. I would like to keep my center a bit detailed, attracting the attention. So I'm taking time to do this, but this is entirely optional. These dots do appear black sometimes, but sometimes when you see them in light, you'll be able to see a bit of color in them. So I'm making sure to leave some white behind, not covering all of it. And now with some of the original mix of Windsor Red, Transparent Orange, and Perylene Maroon. I'm going to connect. These dots to the centre For this, you can also use black. You just need a darker color. I'm simply picking Perylene Maroon now. And just connecting the anther dots to the center. I'm choosing not to use black for this because it will re quickly make the remaining light part of the center dark. So just using perylene maroon and using just the tip of the brush of my number two round brush and creating fine lines. Now we'll go back in with some indigo and create some radial lines in the center for the seed head. And with that same indigo, I'm going to encircle the bottom part of the seed head, giving it a bit of shadow, giving it a bit more rounded look. We are almost done with the painting, but I want to add a few splatters. So for that, in my number four round brush, I'm going to pick some of that same Windsor Red, Transparent Orange, and Perylene Maroon mix. Using a paper to shield the main part of the flowers. And just tapping on my brush a bit hard to create these dots. We'll add a few around here. Just go around. If you'd like to fix anything, add any more color anywhere. But for now, my loosely painted poppies are done. Just remember, you need a bit of practice. But after that, you'll be able to paint these loose brushstrokes quite confidently. I really hope you enjoyed this project. 19. Project 5 Freestyle: For our final project, we are painting some poppies using freestyle. You must be wondering where is the lesson for the brushstroke practice? Well, there isn't one because it's that fun of a technique. Now let's get started. Let's first mix our colors. I'm going to create a thick mix of Ivory black. Right here in my color palette. I'll do the same for Sap Green. Now for my poppy, I'm going to pick some Winsor Red and some Transparent Orange directly from my tube. And I'll mix them in this little teacup that I borrowed from my daughter's play tea set. You can also mix the color in your color palette and with the help of a brush or a pipette, you can transfer it into a small teacup like this, or a plastic bottle cap, or a small seashell. You just need something small which can carry some liquid watercolor and you can pour with it. If you have liquid watercolors, you can also use that. Apply the color using the pipette that comes with them. I'm going to squeeze just a little bit of Windsor Red in here and some Transparent Orange. With my mixing brush. I'm going to pick some water. You can also use a small syringe like this to add some more water. Don't make the mix too watery. I want the color to be quite concentrated. Let's test the color. That's fine. Now that our colors are ready, we can get started. So I've got my mop number 0 brush, I've got my round number four. Round number two, if I need it. Instead of mop brush, you can use any fluffy round brush anywhere from size 4 /6 / 8 based on how big you want your poppies to be. Now, let's get started. You can go ahead and make some pencil marks for yourself if you would like to have a bit of guidance where you want the flowers to be. With this little tea cup. I'm going to pour just a small amount of color on the paper. I'm not worrying what shape it forms. And now I'm going to rinse my mop brush. And I'm going to just spread this water. puddle Move it around, try to make it look like a poppy. And believe me, it's quite easy to turn a blob of water into poppies. So just by moving it around, it already looks like a poppy. Let's turn this into multiple petals. Painting in this style. You do not need to worry too much about the shape of the flower. They are supposed to look like this. Really loose. So just enjoy the process of spreading this color around. try to make them look like flower shapes. I'm holding the brush quite high, letting my brush stay loose. And just using the tip. And with a little bit of the pressure of the brush, I'm moving this color around. While some of these are still wet, pick your number four round brush and pick a thick mix of black, remove excess moisture and add it at the base of these poppies. You want to do this while they're still wet. For this one, I'll touch them where they are meeting. Let's do this one as well. Before trying this technique, you can also look at some poppy flowers to give you an idea how you want to move the color around. what 20. Closing: I really hope you enjoyed this class and I'm so looking forward to seeing your projects. So please make sure to upload them here on Skillshare under the Projects and Resources section. And if sharing on Instagram, you can also tag me. If you have any questions, please make sure to use the Discussion tab and I'll try my best to answer them. If you enjoyed this class, I would be so thankful if you can recommend it to your friends to help this class reach more students, you can follow me here on Skillshare to get updates about my future classes. Thank you so much for watching until next time. Stay creative.