Garden Gems: Painting Clematis in Watercolor

1. Introduction: But Hello and welcome to the watercolor painting tutorial. Today we'll be painting a beautiful Clematis flower, a common and beloved bloom in many gardens. Clematis is a delightful subject to paint, offering a variety of colors, shapes and textures to explore. In this tutorial, we'll focus on deep purple flowers surrounded by delicate leaves, buds, and a soft warm background. This tutorial is a great opportunity to practice the wet on dry technique, along with softening edges to create smooth transitions. We'll primarily work with the wet and dry technique, even for parts for the background. You'll also see how we can adjust the reference photo to better match our artistic vision. We'll simplify not only the composition, but also the painting process, making it more approachable and less overwhelming. As always, I will guide you step by step through the entire process, breaking the painting into manageable sections to make it both enjoyable and achievable. At first glance, this project might seem challenging, especially if you're new to watercolors, but don't worry. With patience and a steady approach, you will find it easier than it looks. Remember, you can always simplify the painting further if needed. With my guidance and a structured approach, I'm confident you will create a piece you'll be proud of. Whether you follow my instructions exactly or at your own personal touches, this painting is an opportunity to create something uniquely yours. Is your creative journey, and I'm here to support and inspire you every step of the way. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a vibrant and expressive painting that will bring a smile to your face every time you see it. So gather your supplies, take a moment for yourself, and let's start creating this joyful piece. Happy painting. 2. Project and Resources: But I've prepared a selection of helpful resources for your project available in the projects and resources section. You will find a PDF with the supply list I used for this painting, along with a reference photo and an image of my finished artwork for guidance. Line drawings in various sizes are also provided so you can print and transfer them onto your watercolor paper in the size that best fits your needs. My painting is in an 11 by 15 inch format. Additionally, there are working progress photos to help you follow the process and focus on specific areas. Feel free to explore these materials and use them to create your own unique and beautiful painting. Please share your progress shots and final painting in the projects and resources section. I also encourage you to take the time to view each other's work in the student project gallery. It's always inspiring to see what others create and the support of your fellow students can be incredibly comforting. Don't forget to like and comment on each other's work. Lastly, I highly recommend watching each lesson before you begin painting. This will give you a clear understanding of what to expect at each stage of the tutorial. If you find this class helpful, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave an honest review. Your feedback will help me improve my content and assist other students in deciding whether to join this class. Thank you in advance. 3. Inspiration and Painting Plan: Clematis is a popular flower in my area, and I've seen dozens of different species with a variety of shapes and colors. Over time, I've taken many photos of these beautiful flowers, and I thought that would make a wonderful subject for this tutorial. I chose this particular reference photo, even though it's not the type I typically use. Normally, I prefer photos with strong highlights and well defined cast shadows. As I find they work best for watercolor painting. However, I was really drawn to the shapes and composition in this image. The original photo was quite busy with many flowers and leaves filling the background. To create a more focused and harmonious composition, I decided to simplify it and introduce warmer tones. Using Procreate app on my iPad, I experimented with the background, looking for a way to make it more cohesive. I felt that adding a yellowish hue would create a nice connection between the greens and pinks. I also adjusted some of the highlights, darkened certain areas, and played around with the colors on the right side until I was satisfied. I realized that we don't need the right side of the image, the elements that are on the right side in the reference photo, as it would make the composition too clattered. Instead, we will make the flowers and buds the main focus of our painting. Once I had a clear vision, I started thinking about how to approach this painting. The first thing I always consider is whether I need to mask out any areas. I decided that masking the main flowers and buds would make painting the background much easier. After completing the background, we will remove the masking from the flower edges and reapply it only on the stamens so we can paint the petals freely. For this tutorial, I've divided the painting into clear sections. We will follow this order. Background, we will start with the main colors and then add background twigs and leaves. Then we will paint buds and leaves. These were masked earlier, so we will paint them next. Then we will paint flower petals. We'll break this process into two stages for better control. And lastly, we'll paint stamens. We'll complete the painting by adding the fine details of the stamens. Now, if you're ready, let's begin our journey with step one, masking out the main shapes. 4. Masking: I've already transferred my sketch onto the paper and secured it by stapling it to a gator board on all four sides. I've also taped the edges to create a clean white border for the final painting. The paper is dry and straight from the block. But since it's firmly attached with staples, there won't be any issues with buckling. The size of my painting is 11 by 15 ", which fits perfectly on my 12 by 16 inch watercolor block. This extra margin allows enough space for staples and masking tape. If I painted directly at 12 by 16 ", I wouldn't have that margin, so I prefer working with a slightly smaller size. For this project, I'll be using Windsor Newton masking fluid with a yellow tint. Before using it, I'll gently roll the bottle to ensure the pigment inside mixes evenly. I also keep an old bottle cap from a previous masking fluid bottle to use as a small container. We'll also need a piece of soap. I keep it in a small container for easy access. A brush dedicated to masking fluid, never use your good brushes as masking fluid can ruin them. And of course, we'll need water for cleaning the brush during the process. I always pour a small amount of masking fluid into a smaller container instead of working directly from the bottle. Masking fluid dries quickly when exposed to air and leaving the battle open for too long can cause clumps to form inside. Even though I close the battle quickly each time, I still get occasional clumps. This is something we want to avoid, as masking fluid should have a smooth, runny consistency for best results. Now, wet the brush and gently rub it on the soap to create a protective layer. This prevents the masking fluid from sticking to the bristles and makes cleaning much easier. Dip the brush into the masking fluid and apply it to the areas we want to protect. We will use masking fluid twice in this painting. First, we will protect the edges of the flowers, buds, and some leaves so we can freely paint the background. And later, the second masking, once the background is complete, we will remove the first layer of masking, paint the background leaves and buds, and then mask the stamens before painting the petals. In the class resources, you will find an illustration showing exactly where I applied masking fluid at this stage, marked in green. Another illustration shows the stamens marked in pink, which we'll mask out later. Take your time and aim for smooth, precise edges, as they will define the final outlines of your petals, buds, and leaves. Avoid brushing. Jacket masking edges can lead to uneven lines in your painting. Since there's quite a lot to mask out, work carefully and don't hurry. If you notice your brush bristles becoming stiff, that's a sign the masking fluid is starting to dry on them. Rinse your brush regularly and reapply soap to keep it in good condition. Here is an example of a damaged brush and a brush in a good condition. The bristles on my current brush aren't glued together because I use soap. In contrast, one of my old brushes used without soap now has stiff stack together bristles making it almost useless. Once you've finished applying the masking fluid, let it dry completely before moving on. In the next part, we will start painting the background. 5. Background: The masking fluid is completely dry, we can begin working on the background. Let me start by showing you the brushes I'll be using for this process. This is an inexpensive old flat brush I use to prepare my colors. It's much easier to pick up more paint from the well with this brush compared to my regular round brushes. For the actual painting, I'll be using around size ten brush, but I recently purchased a new 1 " flat brush with a short handle, and I'm going to use it mainly for painting the background. Although I usually prefer round brushes, larger brushes are better for painting bigger areas quickly, and I bought this one specifically for backgrounds. Of course, you can use whatever brush you have available. The larger the brush, the better because fewer brush strokes will lead to a smoother finish. Before mixing colors, I always spray my paints with clean water. I do this from time to time throughout the painting process to keep the paints fresh and workable. For the background, we will need a few colors. I'll start with the lightest ones, Burnt Sienna and Windsor Yellow Deep. Tse will be used for the upper part and the right side of the background. I'll also keep Windsor yellow handy in case I need a stronger, brighter yellow accent. It's always a good idea to repeat some of the colors from the main subject in the background to create a visual connection. That's why I'll be preparing quin acredon magenta and permanent rows, as these will be the main colors for the petals. Adding them to the background will create a nice link between the background and the main subject, and we can even suggest some flowers within the background. And we'll also need some green. I'll begin with Windsor green yellow shade as my base, and I'll mix it with Windsor yellow deep to warm it up. I'll then add burnt sienna to shift the green toward an olive tone. For the darkest parts of the green, I will add paints gray, which I often use to darken my greens. I'm sure I will also use green gold along the way, as it always adds a lovely warm green hue. We're going to paint the background starting from the upper part and working our way downward. If we use a large brush like this 1 " flat brush, we can apply either the wet on wet technique or the wet on dry technique. It doesn't really matter with such a big brush because we can quickly cover the area with either method without worrying about creating hard edges. The goal is to create smooth color gradients and seamless transitions, which will form a beautiful background for the main subject. I've started by applying a clean water glaze to the upper part, and we will add paint onto the wet surface. Later, you will see that I switch to wet and dry painting to demonstrate how both techniques work when using a large brush and well diluted paint. I've covered the upper half of the background with water, and now I'm applying a warm mix of burnt sienna and Windsor yellow deep. This warm yellowish tone works well because it shifts the overall color temperature of the painting to a warmer side. Additionally, it complements the main subject's color, making it a perfect accent. Purple and yellow are complimentary colors, so they will work well together in this painting. The reference photo, the background is only green and pink, which looks nice, but feels a little too monotonous. So adding these worm colors helps break up the dual color composition. In the upper part, I want to create a smooth transition from the yellow brown area to a green area on the left. On the left side, I will add a darker green by incorporating more paints gray into my green mix. However, I don't want to go too dark just yet because my plan is to add some darker elements later. In the final painting, you'll notice that I added a twig with simple leaves. I know that the colors will dry lighter, so I'm confident that I can apply a darker tone now knowing that it will lighten as it dries. But I also don't want to go too dark right now. And as expected, I'm also using green gold here. I love this color and I love how it warms up the green tones. There's a lot of water on the paper now, so it's important to remember to tilt the painting. Tilting the paper helps the paint flow and mingle naturally, creating those lovely smooth transitions between colors. On the right side, I'm adding the pink mix of quinacredon magenta and permanent rose. The paper is expanding slightly, forming a small indentation in some areas. When this happens, the paint can pull into those valleys, which we want to avoid. If you notice something like this happening, till the painting to help spread the petal evenly. Leaving paint in one of these little valleys can cause uneven drying, and you may end up with unwanted blooms. It's best to keep the paint spread evenly across the surface. On the right side, I'm switching to the wet on dry technique now. You'll notice that my brush strokes leave a hard edge, but I'm working quickly to prevent the paint from drying too much. This allows me to create smooth color gradients, even when working wet on dry. With the edge of the brush, I'm lifting out some paint to suggest simple petal shapes and give a hint of flowers in the background. However, I don't think it worked quite as well as I'd hoped, so I wouldn't repeat this technique next time. I think just having the pink area on its own is enough to suggest flowers in the background. We don't need to create any shapes. As I move to the left, I shift the color toward green. I mix a darker tone using green gold and paints gray. Working wet on dry has the advantage that the paint doesn't get further diluted by water, unlike with wet on wet painting. This means I can achieve a darker tone because the paint is applied directly onto dry paper. The paint will dry slightly lighter, but not as much as it would if I were painting wet on wet, where the additional water layer further dilutes the pigment. On the left side, I'm also dropping in some pink paint to suggest flowers just like I did on the right side. Now, the entire background is covered with the main colors. While the paint is still wet, I want to add some finishing touches. I'm going to use a clean damp brush to lift out paint and create some leaf shapes. Two. After lifting the paint, I will add a different green shade to that area, helping to create soft, blurry leaf shapes in the background. However, this technique only works if the paint still has a shin to it. If the paint has already dried and the shin is gone, it's better not to touch it. In the upper part of the background, I can still see that shin. So I'm able to lift some paint and create these warmer green shapes. In a moment, I will try the same technique in the lower part of the background, which is drier and you will see the difference. I'm also adding some spots of even darker green to create more depth. But again, I can only do this when the paint is still wet enough to manipulate. The lower part of the background is dryer because I applied the paint with the wet on dry technique. With less water on the paper, the shin has already disappeared and the paint doesn't lift as easily. You'll notice that when I try to lift the paint here, it doesn't come off evenly and my brush creates a darker contour around the lifted shape. This is because the paint is no longer wet enough to lift smoothly. Also when adding new paint at this stage, it won't blend as seamlessly with the rest of the background due to the differences in wetness. This is why we can only manipulate the paint effectively when we still see that sheen on the paper, signaling that it's still wet enough to lift or add more pigment. Now, leave the background to dry completely, and in the next part, we will add some simple twigs and leaf shapes to finish the background. 6. Twigs: Make sure the background is completely dry before moving on. I allowed mine to dry thoroughly overnight. Now that it's fully dry, we can work on enhancing the background by adding a few elements to make it more visually interesting. While a plain background can often be sufficient, in this case, we want to introduce an impression of the typical leafy surroundings that accompany clematis flowers. Clematis blooms are always surrounded by simple delicate leaves. I don't want to overcrowd the background with too many leaves, but adding a few will significantly enhance the overall composition. I'll be using the same colors from the previous stage. Green gold mixed with paints gray will form the darker green I need. I'll also add a touch of Windsor green for some variation. In the upper part of the background, I'll introduce quinacradon magenta, mixed with a bit of green and pains gray. This combination creates a muted purple, which is exactly what we need for the twigs. If I mix it further with more green, I will get a brownish tone, which might also work for the twigs. I may also need a lighter worm green, which I can achieve by mixing green gold with Windsor green. Again, I don't want to overwork this part, so I will keep the elements very simple. First, I'll bring out a warmer green leaf shape by using a bit of negative painting. I'll apply a darker green around the leaf shape using the wet on dry technique, and then smooth it out with a clean de brush. This is enough to define the edge of the leaf without adding unnecessary detail. Next, I will paint a simple twig. I'll begin with a light brown tone using burnt CNA from my palette to establish the placement of the twig. Once I'm happy with the position, I will pick up my darker magenta mix and drop it into the shape. Then I will use a light green mix to paint very simple leaf shapes, no intricate details, just basic silhouettes of the leaves. Now I want to add another twig with similar leaves on the left side of the background. The paint will partially spread because I've touched an area that's still wet. Ideally, I should have dried that area with a hair dryer before painting over it, but I'm okay with this effect. However, you can learn from my mistake, and before painting a twig in a similar situation, make sure to dry that area with a hair dryer so that your shapes will stay exactly as you intend them to be. The line drawing I provided. I've also included these twigs in case you would like to paint them as I have. However, feel free to make adjustments, add more leaves, remove some, or create your own unique leafy arrangement. Next, I'll add a simple twig shape in the bottom left corner. There's a lighter large leaf shape in the background, which provides a nice backdrop for the darker twig, which I will paint in a Y shape. I also want to darken this area a little to cover any imperfections from the previous layer. Initially, I aim to create a negative leaf shape, but eventually I went over this entire area with a darker green. I intended to keep the bottom left corner darker to contrast with the lighter upper right corner. This dark section helps create a deeper, more defined background for the petals. The contrast between the dark green and the lighter clematis petals adds depth and enhances the shape of the petals, making them stand out more clearly. Once you've finished this step, dry everything with a hair dryer. Afterward, we can remove the masking fluid. You can simply rub it off with your finger, but I prefer to use a rubber masking pickup tool for better control. Removing the masking fluid will reveal how well it was applied, whether the edges are smooth or jagged. If the edges are jagged, I usually smooth them out with a scrubber brush before continuing. In this case, I think everything looks good, so no further smoothing is needed. In the next section, we'll apply masking fluid to the stamens. 7. Masking Stamens: O this step we will return to using masking fluid. Before we begin painting the main subject, it's a good idea to mask out the statements. Since they are very small elements, masking them will make it much easier to paint around them. If you don't have masking fluid, you can try painting around the statements, and if accidentally you go over them, you can later use an opaque paint like guash to correct it. We will use gash in the final stages anyway, but I prefer to mask the statements out for a cleaner result. Because the stamens are so small, I need a precise tool for applying the masking fluid. I found that the tip of my brush was too large, so I decided to use an embosing tool, sometimes known as a dotting tool for nail art. This tool is metal and doesn't have a reservoir to hold more masking fluid, so I have to dip it into the fluid more frequently. However, the tiny ball on the tip of the tool allows me to apply the masking fluid with great precision to each stamen. I'll be masking all the stamens that are protruding, and later I will use a brush to mask the central parts. I will repeat the process for the second flower. In the class resources, you will find an illustration that shows exactly where I applied the masking fluid at this stage, marked in pink. Once the masking is applied, leave it to dry completely. In the next part, we'll begin painting the main subject, starting with the buds and leaves. 8. Initial Layer on Buds and Leaves: Now that the masking fluid on the stamens is dry, we can begin painting. In this step, we will apply a simple initial layer of color to the buds and leaves that were previously masked out. The goal is to establish a base layer, which you can see in this working progress shot. As you can see, this layer is very simple, just a wash of color on the buds and leaves. For this stage, I'll be using the same colors as before with one addition. First, I'll prepare some new mixes. I'm combining burnt sienna with Windsor yellow deep for a warm tone. Below that, I will have green gold. On the right side of the palette, I will mix a darker green from green gold, pains gray, and windsor green. Above that, I will clean a spot to mix a purple from quinacrodon magenta with pains gray for a dark purple, and also quinacrodon magenta with ultramarine blue, adding a bit more blue for a vibrant violet that I can see in the crevices of the buds. Start with a very watery mixture of green gold and the yellowish brown mix and apply it using the wet on dry technique to the first bud. Don't focus on details and don't worry about perfectly matching the colors. This is just the initial layer, and while the colors matter, the main focus is on tonal values. As we are using the same colors throughout, there will naturally be color harmony. Don't worry if your mix is slightly more yellow or green. The key is to keep it simple. The aim at this stage is to create a roadmap of colors and establish a foundation for the next layer. What we are doing now is that we are applying the lightest tones that we can see in the subject. When we apply the second layer, it will add depth and saturation to the painting. If we only applied one layer of paint, the colors may not have enough vibrancy. At this point, you can add some darker areas by applying stripes of darker green in the shaded parts of the buds, but we will develop the darker tones in later stages. This stage is really straightforward, simply filling the white areas with color. The work in progress photo will guide you through this step. A couple of things to keep in mind. Since we're working wet and dry, try to keep your paint fairly watery. The colors I'm using aren't pale but have a medium tone. The consistency is milky, not too thick and not overly watered down. The best way to test your paint consistency is to compare the tonal value of the paint you are applying to what you see on my paper. If your color looks lighter, add more paint. If it's darker, add more water. No. Once the initial layer is applied, dry everything thoroughly with a hair dryer and let the paper cool down. In the next part, we'll develop these elements further by adding more details. 9. The First Bud and Leaf: Now that the initial layer is completely dry, we can start developing the tones and colors of the buds and leaves to give them form. In this part, our aim is to transform the flat silhouettes of the plants into more three dimensional shapes. Let's begin with the first bad, and for this, I'll be using a size ten brush. Start with the purple color and paint the long dark crevices on the bud. I feel that the brush is a bit too large for this, so feel free to switch to a smaller brush if you prefer. The goal here is to paint the main structural elements. The butt is divided into sections and the crevasses are the darkest areas. We want to define each part by painting these dark crevasses. I'm using a fairly dark color, but it often surprises me how many layers we need to build up to achieve the right tone. You will see that I continue adding more paint to darken these areas. After applying the dark purple, I gently soften the edge on one side. I also use a dark green to paint the crevices on the left side. Now, I'll dry the bat quickly using a hair dryer so that I can continue developing the colors and tones. I'll use the hair dryer frequently to speed up the drying process instead of waiting for the paint to dry naturally. After using the hair dryer, wait a minute for the paper to return to room temperature. The heat from the dryer can cause the paint to dry too quickly. So if you start painting on warm paper, it will be difficult to control the paint. Once the paper has cooled, I apply a darker green in the middle of each section. The initial green is lighter, and while the paint is still damp, I run the darker green along the center, leaving the edges of each section lighter. I also keep in mind that the bottom part of the bad is generally darker in tone. On the right side of the bad, I'm using more brown. I apply the paint wet and dry and then smooth it out. At this point, I'm starting to build up the darker tones. I've already established the general structure and distribution of colors, and now I'm adding more layers to darken the areas that needed. I dry each layer in between to avoid painting wet on wet, which would cause the edges to blur. Drying the layers ensures that I can add darker tones and maintain sharp edges. I switched to a smaller size four brush to paint more precisely. Notice that with this brush, I use very short brush strokes to paint many lines close together. This technique helps to darken certain areas and adds texture to the painting. In the final painting, you'll notice that the sides of each section are quite light. These areas catch more light, and we will create this effect by lifting off paint with a scrubber brush later. If you go too dark in some areas and lose those lighter sections, don't worry. We will retrieve the light tones with the scrubber brush. As you can see, I'm not applying just one layer here. I'm layering multiple transparent washes, each contributing to the final look. This method of building up color values and saturation is very effective for realistic painting. By gradually adding each layer, we can adjust the colors and tones until we reach the desired effect. Once you finish the bud, move on to the stem. For the stem, we simply want to create a round form. To do this, apply a darker tone on the right side of the stem and near the bud. Leave a lighter area on the left to suggest a highlight. Again, don't worry if you accidentally paint over the highlight area, as we can always lift the paint later with a scrubber brush to reveal the light. Lastly, there is a small leaf on the left, and here I'm using a negative painting technique, which is just one approach to painting this. I imagine where the veins are and paint section between them, leaving the veins lighter. Of course, we could also paint the darker veins directly with a dark green, and we will do this in other leaves. I want to show you different possibilities. We'll also paint other bads slightly differently, so you can see that there are many ways to approach painting the same subject. 10. Finishing Buds and Leaves: In this part, we will almost finish the buds and leaves almost because lifting out the highlights will be covered in a separate video. Let's continue working on the buds. This time, I'm starting with the purple again. The distribution of colors is slightly different. The crevices on the left side are now also purple. I'm using a smaller brush to paint these details, and then I will switch back to a size ten brush to cover larger areas. This stage, we're focusing on painting the darkest elements, those crevices. It's a good idea to start with these because they are the most prominent structural elements that help establish the general form of the bud. Plus, these are the darkest areas, so it's a good idea to define them as soon as possible. By identifying the darkest areas, we establish reference points for the other tonal values. Once we've painted these dark areas, we know we can't use such dark tones for other parts of the bud. With the tip of the small brush and a darker tone, I darken the bottom part of the bat, then dry this layer. Now I will switch to the size ten brush and using a warm mix of green gold and Windsor green, I'll apply the color to the first section on the left. Next, I will mix a darker green, green gold, Windsor green, and paints gray, and apply it close to the crevice. This helps create a rounded form. I'll continue applying these two greens to the next sections, leaving the sides lighter while keeping the bottom darker. On the right side, I will use brown and even darker green and then dry this layer. Finally, with a small size four brush, I will add tiny details. I will refine the shapes and add the darkest tones where needed. The next but will be painted a little bit differently. I will try to do everything in one layer. I will start with a dark purple to establish the crevices and define each section, and then immediately start painting each section using various shades of green. Notice that this time I'm not using the hair dryer. I'm just applying more paint. Once I apply a lighter warmer green, I then layer a darker green on top. Since I'm painting over an already damp area, the paint is more concentrated and it won't spread as much. This technique won't give us sharp edges, but it will help establish a general distribution of colors and tones. We can always create sharp edges in the next layer once this one is dry. Now I can move on to the last bad. Notice that the buds are actually quite simple to paint. The key is painting these elongated stripes, curving them slightly to suggest the rounded form of the bad and paying attention to colors and tonal values. Once the layers are dry, we'll come back to the buds in the next part. But for now, let's finish this section by painting the two leaves. Oh for the larger leaf, I first want to suggest its form. And to do that, I will apply a dark green near the central vein and smooth out the color towards the right side. This creates a darker area near the middle, which suggests an indentation. I repeat this on the left side, darkening the left side and lightening the paint toward the middle vein. I try not to let the sides mingle, keeping the lighter middle vein running through the center of the leaf. Now we can dry everything. Once it's dry, we'll finish the buds and leaves by lifting out a few highlights and adding the veins in the next part. 11. Retrieving Highlights and Adding Veins: Now that everything is completely dry, we can begin the easy part, creating highlights. I'll be using a size four, scrubber brush, a Windsor Newton galeria brush that I use in almost every painting. You don't need the exact same brush, just a slightly stiffer one that allows you to wrap the paint gently. You could even try use a regular round brush, but a stiffer brush makes the process easier. Start by dipping the brush in water, then remove the excess paint by dabbing the bristles on a paper towel. Gently rub the area where you want to lift off the paint. This will activate the dried paint, and you can remove it by dabbing the area with a paper towel. This is a simple yet effective method for creating highlights, especially in areas that should have highlight, but where we may have accidentally painted over them. Green is an easy color to lift, so be careful not to use too much force. If needed, try adding a bit more water to your brush to activate the paint rather than scrubbing too hard. Sometimes after lifting, the highlights may appear too white. For example, I feel that the lighter spaces on the bad are too pale. In this case, you can always add another layer of paint and glaze over those areas to introduce a bit more color. Now, let's finish the leaves. As you can see, the leaves in this painting are quite simple. I didn't focus too much on intricate detail. To finish the leaves, we can use a small brush and a darker green to add some veins, which will give them a more natural look. We're not aiming for hyperrealism, so we don't need to focus on every little detail. Simple veins like this will add interest and make the leaves look more organic. At this point, the entire background is complete. If you want to add or change any details in the background, now is the time to do so because in the next part, we'll start painting the flowers. We'll be changing the water and colors on our palette entirely. Since we still have greens on the palette, it's a good opportunity to make any twigs. For example, I decided to darken the leaf in the upper left corner because there is a nice lighter green behind it. Think it will look better if the leaf in this area will be darker, creating more contrast. I will also add a slightly darker brown tone to the twigs to make them a bit more defined, but that's just a tiny detail. In the next part, we will begin painting the flowers. That 12. First Layer on the Petals Part 1: In this part, we will start painting the flowers. By the end of this stage, we should transition from white petals to something like this. Please don't be overwhelmed by this part. It's actually a very simple step. However, because there are quite a few petals, we will need to repeat the same process for each one. But don't worry, it's not complicated, and you will see it's easier than it might initially seem. Before we move on, let's prepare our colors. I'll spray my paints with clean water because they are dry now as it's another day. This is also a great opportunity to change the water in your water container and clean your palette, since we'll be using a different set of colors. Let's prepare two mixes. On the right side of the palette, I'm mixing permanent rose with queen acrodon magenta. I'll prepare the same mix on the left side as well. This combination of magenta and pink will be our main color for the petals. But we also need some darker tones. To achieve a darker tone, let's simply add Paine's gray to one of those mixes. Pain's gray will not only darken the color, but will also shift it slightly towards purple, as Paine's gray is essentially a very dark blue. It's not great, really. This will give us a wonderful range of colors and tones to work with. And this will be the only two mixes we use for the petals. There will be a tiny area with yellow, but overall, these two mixes form our base. I'll be using a size ten brush for this part, and we'll be painting wet on dry. Pick up a medium value pink, choose any petal you'd like to start with. I've chosen this one and apply this color wet and dry in the center of the petal. Now, rinse your brush, blot it on a towel, and with the scleen brush, gently pull the pink colour towards the edges of the petal. This creates a transition from the darker center to the lighter edges. Repeat the rinsing and blotting process a few times to ensure you're not dragging too much paint towards the edges. Once you finish the first petal, move on to another one, but avoid those that are directly touching the one you just painted. We don't want the paint to flow from one petal to the next. Again, pick up the pink color and apply it in the middle part of the petal close to the center. Then using a clean done brush, soften the edges towards the petals outer edges. For this petal, the area near the center of the flower is darker. While the pink is still wet, you can drop in the darker purple near the center to suggest the shadowed area. This is a great opportunity to practice softening edges, which is a very useful and common technique in watercolor painting. We will repeat this process on each petal, so let me explain the reasoning behind it while you watch. You might be wondering why we're using the wet on dry technique rather than wet on wet. Well, we could certainly use the wet on wet technique here. And if you feel comfortable with it, feel free to use it. The results would be very similar but not quite the same. There are two main reasons why I'm choosing wet and dry at this stage. First, painting wet and dry gives us slightly more saturated colors once the paint dries compared to wet on wet. Reason for this is that when you use the wet on wet technique, the initial water layer dilutes the paint more, and it dries paler than when we apply paint wet on dry because we don't have that initial water layer. The petals have a fairly strong saturated color, and to achieve that, we will apply at least two layers. Having the first one applied wet on dry gives us a solid bold base. And the second reason is perhaps even more important. With the wet on dry technique, we have more control over the paint and especially the edges. We can soften the edges if we want a smooth transition or leave them harder for a more defined line. With the wet on wet technique, we can only create soft edges because the paint spreads in the water layer. Having the option to create both soft and hard edges is crucial in this case. It allows us to create folds and highlights on the edges of the petals more easily. If you take a closer look at how I'm smoothing out the paint towards the edges, you'll notice that I intentionally leave some hard edges and unpainted areas. Those unpainted areas will represent the highlights, and the hard edges will suggest the folds and the delicate texture of the petals. Reference photo we're using isn't ideal in terms of light and shadow. I typically choose photos with strong highlights and well defined cast shadows, as I believe watercolor paintings look more interesting in those conditions. However, I really love the composition of this photo and the shapes it offers. So I thought it would be worth painting. Unpainted white areas of the petals are just suggestions of the highlights. This layer is also just the initial layer. We are not focusing on details yet. We are simplifying the petals and focusing only on the distribution of color and tone. I'm simplifying each petal into a very basic gradient from dark to light. From the reference photo, I only need to gather the basic information where the strongest pink or purple appears and how the petal bends or curls. I remind myself that the goal is to paint the middle part with a dark pink and leave the edges lighter. That's the only color and tonal information I need for now. The other important information is about the form of the petal. Whether it's seen from above or from the side, how it's curled or bent, this will determine how I soften the pink toward the edges. At this stage, we also want to suggest the form of the petal by applying our brush strokes in the direction of the petals shape. So if I know that the petal is bent or curved in a certain way, I will paint in that direction. This creates an immediate impression of form. If we simply brush from left to right in horizontal strokes, it won't make sense. We need to follow the form of each individual petal. When you reach a point where there are no more petals to paint because the unpainted petals are touching the ones you've already painted, use a hair dryer to dry everything. Notice how the saturation of the color decreases as the paint dries. When it's wet, it's very vibrant, but once it dries, it will become paler. If we had used the wet on wet technique, it would have dried even paler. Once the petals are dry, give the paper a few minutes to cool down before continuing. You don't want to paint on hot paper. 13. First Layer on the Petals Part 2: After drying the first round, continue working on the other petals. This initial layer will provide a nice base for the next layer, where we will focus more on the details. In my painting process, I ended up drying the petals two more times. I think watching me apply the paint to every petal and explaining exactly the same process for each one might not add much new information. So I will show you shorter clips of the other petals and key areas. You can follow along with the progress shot from when I finished the stage. I believe it will be helpful for guiding you through each petal. I do want to point out two petals that besides purple also have a little bit of yellow. One of them is the small petal on the right hand side. Here I started by applying pink on both sides of the yellow stripe in the middle. Then I picked up Windsor yellow deep and applied it to the middle, letting it blend with the pink. There's another petal that also has a yellow stripe in the middle. Use Windsor yellow deep for that one as well. I really enjoy painting subjects like this where there are lots of small sections to work on. It's like solving a jigsaw puzzle. We paint one small section at a time, and in the end, all these pieces come together to form the whole image. It is a bit time consuming, but are we in a hurry? I hope not. Take your time to paint each section with a calm, patient and relaxed mindset. Some of those small sections may not make much sense, and we might not always understand exactly what we are painting. For example, these darker areas between the two main flowers, I can assume that there's another flower behind them, but I don't know exactly what I'm painting, and that's okay. We are painting what we see. It might not always make sense, but if we follow the process and recreate the shapes and colors from the reference, it will all come together in the end. So continue working on the rest of the petals. Take breaks if you need to and don't feel pressured to finish quickly. There's no rush. Nothing bad will happen if you take a break or continue painting tomorrow. Don't rush because haste makes waste. If you get impatient, you might make mistakes. When I finish applying this initial layer, I noticed a tiny area between the petals. So once the petals were dry, I mixed some darker green again quickly and fill that area with green. Now we have a lovely initial layer, and we are ready to start working on the details. 14. Adding the Middle Veins: This part will be quick and easy. The goal here is to paint the veins running through the middle of the petals. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if these should be called veins, but for the sake of this tutorial, let's call them veins. I'll be using a size four brush for this step. We will use the same colors as before to paint these lines. Start with a lighter tone to establish the direction of the veins. Using a lighter tone allows us to test the placement and shape of the lines first, and then we can come back and go over them with a darker purple, particularly near the center of the flower. In the reference photo, these lines are not very visible. They are more pronounced on some petals, but generally they don't stand out too much. However, for those of you who are familiar with or have grown clematis, you will know that these petals are very characteristic. Many species of clematis have these veins or lines running through the petals. I've taken photos of various clematis species, and I can say that most of them feature these distinct lines, if not all of them. So I think we can take a little artistic license here and emphasize this feature a bit more in our painting. Typically, there are three lines running through the middle of each petal. Though sometimes there are five. For our painting, three sufficient. These lines also help to define the overall form of the flower because they indicate how the petals are bent. The direction of these lines is quite important. So try to follow the reference photo or maybe my finished painting or the work in progress shot to get the lines placed correctly. Once you've painted these lines, we can move on to the next step. 15. Building Up the Petals: Before we start painting, let me explain the general idea behind this part. I didn't want to break it down into smaller sections because we will be repeating the same process on each petal. So I'd like you to get a general understanding of what we are doing here and the thinking behind this stage. Our goal now is to develop and finish painting the petals by adding more details and applying darker tones. At this stage, I actually didn't reference the photo much, which is why my painting is simpler than the original. I focus more on observing the petals to get a sense of where the dark tones are distributed. Since I already know how the petals are bent and I've painted the middle veins, I now just want to add darker tones to create a more convincing look and add some fine details. Keeping these general ideas in mind will help us paint the petals without stressing too much about following the reference photo exactly. Let's use this petal as an example as it includes all the elements we'll be focusing on for each petal. In general, we want to darken the middle part of the petal near the center. Applying an additional layer of pink and purple will give us that rich purple look in the center contrasting with the lighter edges of the petals. We want to create a more three dimensional effect in the middle section of the petal, where we've painted the three lines. To do this, we will paint shadow on one side and leave a lighter tone on the other side. This will suggest that the middle part of the petal is slightly rounded. We'll also add some veining to the petals to help define their form. Small veins branch out from the main veins running down the center. Finally, we might want to add a slightly ruffled effect to the edges of the petals by emphasizing the sharp wet and dry edges. Let's look at how to achieve this. First, I start by painting a settled shadow in the middle of the petal. I paint the shadow on the left side because in my mind, the light source is coming from the upper right. This already gives the petal a bit more depth. I also darken the bottom part of the petal near the center of the flower to create the illusion of the petals emerging from the center. The dark purple I will add shortly will enhance the sense of indentation. Now I switch to a smaller brush size four to paint the veins. Notice that in this case, the lines don't extend all the way to the edges. This is one of the tricks to create the impression of a subtle curl in the petal. It's a bit counterintuitive, but leaving the edge lighter while painting the veins inwards will help create a rounded three dimensional form. I'm also painting the veins branching out from the middle veins. I apply these general techniques to all the other petals. That's really all I'm doing. Of course, each petal is unique and requires an individual approach, but the basic principles stay the same. I believe that the most important aspect is getting those dark tones right and adding that second layer to intensify the color in the middle areas. The second layer will not only make the purple more vibrant but it will also create a greater sense of depth. The dark tones close to the center help enhance the cap like shape of the flower. Additionally, by adding these darker tones, we can create better contrast between the petals and make each petal stand out more. The veins and texture suggestions are just additional elements that bring interest and realism to the painting. I always start in the center of the petal and work my way out to the edges, repeating the process for each petal. It's really quite repetitive and I honestly didn't look at the reference photo too much because I had a clear idea of the look I was trying to achieve. For larger petals, you might want to divide the process into three parts. Start by painting the middle section, adding shadows along the middle veins, then paint one side of the petal and finish by painting the other side. You can also try a different approach. You can apply a stronger color to the middle part of the petal and smooth it out, then dry it with a hair dryer and once dry, finish the petal by painting the veins on top. If you lose any highlights, you can always left the paint out with a scrubber brush if you like. Once you've finished painting the petals, we will remove the masking fluid from the stamens, and in the next part, we'll finish the painting by focusing on the stamens. 16. Painting the Stamens: Let's begin by applying an initial layer to establish the general color and shape of the stamens. Use a well diluted Windsor yellow dip with a touch of or pink mix. Apply this very pale orange to the stamens, leaving the middle part slightly lighter. Next, pick up a touch of green followed by some purple and apply these colors at the bottom of the stamens. The stamens are light in color and reflect the hues of the surroundings. The purple will indicate shadows and the colors reflected from the petals. Repeat the process on the other flower center. Once the paint is applied, dry everything with a hair dryer. When the initial layer is dry, prepare a mix of green gold and windsor green, then mix it with the purple. This should create a purplish brown, which we'll use to define each stamen. Also prepare a dark mix of pains gray quinacrodon magenta and Windsor green for the darkest areas. Using a small size four brush, I will start by defining the dark center of the stamens and then paint the edges of each stamen. This is somewhat intuitive because the pencil lines are barely visible in my case, so I'm making up the shapes as I go. I keep in mind that the stamens form a rounded shape in the center similar to an olive with a few stamens branching out. This gives me enough information to draw each stamen with the tip of my brush. Actually overworked the center. It's easy to get caught up into details, but you can simply paint each statement with a simple brushstroke. I just felt like painting each one separately. Once I've drawn each statement with the lighter brown tone, I pick up a darker purple and go over some of the lines again to define them better, making each statement more prominent. In the final stage, I darken some of the statements to suggest a deeper shadow in the area. When I apply the darker paint, I blur some of the lines, so I will need to repaint them once everything is dry. I repeat this process on the second flower. Once the previous layer is dry, I go over some of the lines again to define them more clearly. For the last step, which isn't necessary but can help refine the stamens or correct any shapes, I use white guash. The guash I have is from Windsor and Newton. I mix it with Windsor yellow deep and our pink color to create a creamy tone. I use this mix to define some of the lighter statements and to create highlights that may have been lost. For that, I will use more white. This will be the final step of the process. Um, Once finished, you can sign your painting, and it will be ready. In the next part, I will show you how I remove the painting from the Gator board. Yeah. 17. Removing the Painting from the Gatorboard: Once the painting is finished, I always sign it in the bottom right corner. For signing, I use the color of the background in that area, but in a darker tone. In this case, I will use a darker green. If the background is dark in the corner, I will mix the background color with white gouache, making my signature lighter than the surrounding area. I always write the first letter of my name, my surname, and the year. This is very important to me as it helps me easily track my progress over time. After the signature is in place and the painting is completely dry, I remove the tape revealing a nice white border around the painting. This additional border is helpful if you decide to frame your painting. To remove staples, I always use a palette knife, which I also use to separate a sheet of paper from the watercolor block. I gently insert the palette knife under the paper at each staple and pull it up. Now that I have a painting with staples around the edges, I need to remove them. And to do this, I just use large scissors to cut away the margins with the staples, leaving just the white border around the painting. The process is now finished and the painting is completely flat thanks to the staples. I can now scan and post it. Let's now move on to the last part where we will do a quick summary and recap what we've learned from this tutorial. 18. Recap: Thank you so much for joining me in this watercolor painting tutorial. I hope you found it enjoyable and that it has inspired you to try this painting yourself. Let's take a moment to recap what we've covered throughout this project. We learned how to break the painting into smaller manageable sections, making it easier to approach a complex piece step by step without feeling overwhelmed. We explored how to paint the background using either the wet and wet or wet and dry technique, both of which give similar result when following simple guidelines. Also painted the buds and simple leaves creating a beautiful background for the main flowers. We tackled the intricate structure of clematis flowers by simplifying their petals into basic shapes. By following simple guidelines, we were able to paint the petals without the need to follow the reference photo exactly. Used a structured approach by working with transparent layers, gradually building up the forms. Throughout the process, we paid attention to the tones and colors, developing them with several transparent layers step by step. I hope you enjoyed this process and you feel inspired to paint this beautiful garden flower. Thank you again for spending this time with me. Happy painting by