Garden Gems: Painting Tulips in Watercolor

1. Introduction: Hello and welcome to this colorful watercolor painting Tutorial. Today we'll be working on a bright and cheerful project featuring luminous tulips in a variety of colors. This vibrant painting full of wonderful hues, is sure to brighten your day and could become a stunning decoration for your wall. It radiates joy and happiness, and I believe you will truly enjoy bringing it to life. This tutorial, we'll primarily use the wet on dry technique, but we will also explore a bit of negative painting for the leaves. While we could approach the leaves in a more traditional way, I saw this as a great opportunity to practice negative painting. Not only is this technique fun, but it also allows us to paint the leaves more efficiently than working on each one individually. Will learn how to simplify the reference photo and its vibrant colors into more manageable sections and shapes. By using layering techniques with transparent paints, we'll achieve a luminous quality that makes the tulips look like colorful gems shimmering in warm light. As always, I will guide you step by step through the entire process, breaking the painting into manageable sections to ensure it's both enjoyable and achievable. At first glance, this project might seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you're new to watercolors. But don't worry. If you're willing to take your time and approach it with patience, you will find it much easier than it looks. And remember, you can always simplify this painting further if you like, or you can paint just a section of it. With my guidance and a step by step approach, I'm confident you will create a piece you will be proud of. Whether you follow my instructions closely or at your personal flare, this painting is an opportunity to make something uniquely yours. This is your creative journey, and I'm here just to inspire you and encourage you every step of the way. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a vibrant painting that will bring smile to your face every time you see it. Gather your supplies, find a quiet moment for yourself, and let's start creating this joyful painting. Happy painting. 2. Project and Resources: I've prepared a selection of helpful resources for your project available in the projects and resources section. You will find various PDF files, for example, 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 a 16 by 12 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 final painting in the projects and resources section. I also encourage you to take a moment 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, Painting Plan: The idea for this painting came to me as a way to escape my recent gloomy mood to put it delicately. I felt the need for something bright and colorful to lift my spirits, and flowers with their vast array of vibrant hues, seemed like the perfect subject. I don't think I've ever painted so many colorful flowers in a single piece before, and it turned out to be an incredibly enjoyable and uplifting experience. Ever I feel uninspired or creatively drained, I like to browse through my collection of watercolor art books and study other artists works. One of my favorite artists and someone who inspired me at the very beginning of my watercolor journey is Janet Whittle. I greatly admire her work, and she remains an incredible source of inspiration for me. Own two of her books, one in Polish and one in English, and every time I look at her paintings, I'm captivated by the way she portrays flower. To me, her artist's perfection. What I love most about Janet Whittle's paintings is the balance she strikes between realism and looseness, something I strive to achieve in my own work. When I analyze her art, I notice how she uses simple washes of color and simplifies her subjects, yet her paintings still feel detailed. At the same time, they exude a playful quality through the use of bold, vibrant colors and dynamic shapes. Her work is never overworked. The layers are light, fluid, and distinctly watercolor like. Yet they maintain a strong visual impact. I think that unconsciously, I've always aspired to paint like Janet. However, I still feel far from achieving her relaxed and spontaneous style, which is also so well composed and thoughtfully executed. Her work continues to inspire me and reminds me of the beauty and joy that can be found in the simplicity of watercolor. I like to draw inspiration from Janet Whittle works, which is why I decided to use the negative painting technique for the tulip leaves as she often does. I knew I wanted to paint the leaves first because if I made a mistake with the negative painting at the start, it wouldn't be as frustrating. It would be far more disappointing to mess up after completing all the flowers. That's why the leaves will be the first stage in our painting process. We'll break the process into manageable stages, beginning with the green parts. Next, we will move on to painting the sky, which will be a quick and straightforward task. Before focusing on the main tulips, we'll first paint the red tulips in the background on the left hand side. Then we will paint the stems of the tulips followed by the flowers themselves. We'll start with an initial base layer for all the flowers and then work on the tulips in groups organized by color. First, we'll paint the tulip on the left, which will be pink or salmon. Next, we will move to the red tulips. Then we'll tackle the yellow tulips, including the orange one on the right, as the colors are similar. After that, we'll paint the white tulip, and finally, we'll finish with the purple tulips on the right. I know it's a lot of flowers, and this painting requires a bit of patience. But remember, you can simplify the painting as much as you like. You don't have to paint the entire piece. Feel free to focus on just one section, a single tulip, or a small group of flowers. If the whole painting feels overwhelming, it's perfectly okay to scale it down. So keep in mind that there is no need to rush. You can break the painting process into multiple days as I did. Enjoy the process and take your time to bring this painting to life. Nobody is chasing you, and there is no deadline. This is not a race. We are here to paint in a relaxed and enjoyable way, free from pressure. Now that you know our plan for approaching this painting, let's move on to the first step, masking of the main flowers. 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 finished 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 sketch looks too dark, I like to use a kneaded eraser to gently roll over it, especially in areas where the painting will be lighter. This ensures that the pencil lines won't show through too prominently in the final piece. Initially, I drew all the leaves as part of the sketch, but then I decided to paint them using the negative painting technique, so I erase those pencil lines. In the class materials, I've included outlines for both the original leaf version and the negative painting version. This way, you can choose the approach that works best for you. Now for the masking, I'll be using Windsor and Newton masking fluid with a yellow tinge. I'll also need an old cap. This one is from an old battle of masking fluid I've had for a while. We'll also need a piece of soap, which I keep in a small container for easy access. And lastly, we will need a brush dedicated only to applying masking fluid. Never use your good brushes for this as masking fluid can damage them. And of course, we'll need water. A begin, gently roll the masking fluid bottle to mix the contents. Then pour a small amount into the cup. The reason for pouring the fluid into a smaller container is that masking fluid dries quickly when exposed to oxygen. If you leave the battle open during the entire masking process, the fluid inside will be exposed to air for at least several minutes. Over time, this can lead to clamps forming in the battle, making the masking fluid unusable. To avoid this, I pour out only the amount I need and close the battle right away. Next, wet the brush and rub it gently on the soap to create a protective layer. This will help prevent the masking fluid from sticking to the bristles and make cleaning the brush much easier. Once your brush is ready, dip it into the masking fluid and carefully apply it to the areas we want to protect. Here, of course, at the very beginning, I made a small mistake. I didn't think this through properly. I shouldn't have applied masking fluid to the red tulip in the background, that small part on the left side. In the class materials, you will find an illustration showing exactly where to apply the masking. You can see, there is no masking on that small area. Later in this tutorial, I will show you how to remove the masking fluid from that spot before we start painting. The reason I shouldn't have applied masking there is that the red tulip belongs to the background, which we paint along with the leaves. If I left the masking in place, I wouldn't be able to paint the red tulip properly. It would leave a white unpainted area that doesn't fit the background. Now, let's proceed with applying masking fluid to the edges of the main tulips and their stems. This will allow us to freely paint the green areas without worrying about accidentally painting over the flowers. It will also make painting the sky much easier. Take your time with the masking process. Aim to create smooth and precise edges as these will form the final outline of your petals and stems. Avoid rushing. Jagged edges in the masking will result in uneven lines on your painting. Once you've applied the masking, let it dry completely before moving on. Now that the masking has fully dried, I will remove the unnecessary section I mentioned earlier. To do this, I will use an exacto knife and carefully cut away the unwanted part of the masking. This allows me to correct the mistake without disturbing the rest of the masking. There's only a tiny spot on the tulip where the masking pulled away. Ideally, I would correct this by reapplying a small amount of masking here, but it's such a minor area that I'm comfortable leaving it as it is. In the next part, we'll begin by applying the first layer to the leaves. 5. Leaves - First Layer: No. With the masking fluid in place to protect the main flowers, we don't need to worry about accidentally painting over them. Before we prepare the colors, let me briefly explain what we are going to do. We'll be painting the leaves using the negative painting technique. To help visualize our goal, I use the procrete app on my iPad to create a rough idea of what we are aiming for. This process will involve three layers. The first layer will be a general base layer applied across the entire area. In the second layer, we will draw and define the first set of leaves, bringing them out using the negative painting technique. The third layer will add more leaf shapes for depth and dimension. You're welcome to add more layers and details if you would like, but I decided to keep it concise. I think these three layers will be enough to achieve a beautiful result without making the process too lengthy. To finish the leaves, we'll also add some simple veins for extra detail. Let's begin by preparing the colors we'll need for the leaves. I'm spraying my paints with clean water, something I always do when the paint have dried. This activates them, making it much easier to pick up and transfer the pigment to the mixing area. For the background, we'll use permanent rows to reflect some of the tulip colors in the background. This painting is exceptionally colorful, so I'll be using almost the entire palette. It's a great opportunity to explore all the colors you have on hand. We'll also prepare Windsor blue green shade, which I will use in the bottom right corner. The green, feel free to use your favorite shade. There is no strict rule here. I decided to mix my green using transparent yellow and Windsor blue. This combination creates a green that closely resembles Windsor green, hookers green, or even sap green, depending on the ratio of yellow to blue. Love mixing greens because it gives me a range of shades to work with, which is always visually interesting. This mix is so versatile that I could easily remove Windsor green and green gold from my palette altogether. However, I still keep them around simply because I like green so much. It's my favorite color. Of course, you could also use here Windsor green, yellow shade and green gold and add Pains gray to create a darker shade of green. In fact, to add depth and to darken the color, I will also include paints gray at the bottom of the mix to create a darker shade. We'll apply the first layer using the wet on wet technique. Though you can also opt for wet on dry technique if you prefer. Just remember to use well diluted paint to ensure your colors blend smoothly creating soft transitions. I'm using the wet on wet approach because the area we're covering is quite large, and this method makes it easier to achieve seamless color transitions. Begin, I'm using a large flat, 1 " brush to apply a clean, even layer of water. Make sure that there are no dry spots, puddles, or uneven areas. If you notice pools of water gathering at the edges, use your brush to distribute the water evenly across the surface. Next, I will switch to a size 12 brush to start applying paint. I'm beginning with the lightest color, a light green mix with a higher proportion of transparent yellow than blue. If you prefer, you can also use green gold here as it's a very similar shape. At this stage, we're laying the foundation for the upcoming layers. The placement of colors in this base layer will influence the look and feel of the final painting. You have the freedom to arrange the colors in a way that feels right for you. For my painting, I've chosen to place the lighter areas diagonally. My idea is to create a streak of sunlight falling across the surface of the leaves, which you'll see reflected in the final piece. Near the yellow orange tulips, I'm incorporating a warm yellow. Windsor yellow deep to reflect the color of the tulips in the background. In the corner, I want to keep the area lighter. So I'm applying only a subtle yellowish tone, keeping it soft and delicate. I'm repeating the same idea on the right hand side, but this time I'm using permanent rows because I'll be incorporating this color into the tulips on that side. So we will have a connection between the background and the tulips. At the bottom, I'm adding Windsor blue to create a soft turquoise stone. This is entirely a matter of personal preference. Feel free to use any color combination that suits your vision. Next time mixing transparent yellow with permanent rose to create a warm red. I'm using this mixture to paint the tulip silhouettes on the left hand side in the background. Now you can see why it was necessary to remove that section of masking fluid. Without doing so, I wouldn't be able to paint this background tulip. This warm red mix is quite versatile. By adjusting the ratio, you can shift it toward a cooler red with more permanent rose or toward an orange or yellow by adding more transparent yellow. As I work downward, I transition to using more yellow and blending to green to seamlessly connect this area with the rest of the leaves. Once all the colors are in place and the entire area is covered with paint, it's time to tilt the painting. Tilting encourages the paint to move and blend naturally on the paper, creating smooth transitions between colors. As long as the paint is still wet, you can also drop in more colors. For instance, you might want to add darker greens, as I've done, to deepen the area near the tulips. Keep in mind that we are working in three layers and with each subsequent layer, we'll be building up darker colors. In this initial layer, we are using the full strength of the colors, but remember that they will dry significantly lighter. When you're satisfied with how your colors look on the paper, it's time to tilt the painting. The purpose of tilting is to get the paint moving naturally and encourage the colors to blend seamlessly. When colors mix directly on the paper, the transitions look soft and organic. If you try blending too much with a brush, it can leave visible brush strokes and risk an overworked appearance. Is why it's important to use well diluted watery paint and to tilt the paper once you've finished applying the colors. Keep tilting until you notice the paint stops gathering along the edges or near the masking fluid and isn't moving anymore. For reference, since I recorded this process, I can tell you that I tilted the paper for about 8 minutes. When the paint begins to settle and the surface is still shiny but no longer dripping wet, you can add an optional touch, spatter effect. Using a smaller brush, I use a size six. You can spatter clean water to create soft diffused effect. While a lot of this area will eventually be covered by other layers, this is a great way to add subtle interest to the background. Instead of clean water, you can also spatter paint for a more colorful effect. For example, in a blue area, try spattering yellow to create an interesting color mix. You could also use contrasting colors for a bit of drama like burnt sienna in blue sections or green areas as green and brown naturally complement each other. The result will vary depending on how wet the paper is and how much water or paint you spatter. Softer shapes form on wetter surface while drier areas will create more defined spatters. If you use a lot of water, you may even create blooms, those unpredictable bursts of lighter patterns. Blooms are often considered a mistake in watercolor, but I think they can look stunning, adding character and charm to your painting, especially when done intentionally. With the first layer complete, we will let it dry completely. Once dry, we will move on to the next part and start creating the first leaves. 6. Leaves - Second Layer: Now that the first layer is completely dry, you can see how beautiful it looks. It could easily stand alone as a simple background. However, we're aiming for more depth and complexity by creating leaves. In this part, we'll apply the first negative painting layer to start defining the main leaf shapes. To guide us, let's refer to my sketch, which represents the look we're aiming for in this stage. The idea is to bring out the leaf shapes by painting around them. Take a moment to visualize how the negative painting technique works. It's all about building layers by outlining and shading the spaces around the subject to make it stand out. Now, take a look how to do this. Begin by lightly sketching the main leaf shapes onto your dry background. There is no need to follow a reference photo strictly, but if you would like, feel free to search for tulip leaves online for inspiration. Tulip leaves are naturally simple in shape, and for this painting, we are simplifying them even more. Start with a very basic outline. Beginning with a leaf on the left hand side to demonstrate. If you prefer, you can simplify the process by using transparent paper, such as tracing paper or parchment paper. By placing this paper over your painting, you can easily see the background through it and sketch potential leaf shapes directly onto the transparent surface. This approach allows you to experiment freely with the size, shape, and placement of the leaves without committing to any specific design right away. Once you've finalized a shape you're happy with, you can cut it out to create a stencil. This technique ensures your leaf shapes align perfectly with your vision, complement the composition of your painting and are positioned just right. You can even reuse the stencil to replicate the shape in other places in your painting. Alternatively, you can draw directly onto your painting if you feel confident in your design choices. This transparent paper technique is simply a helpful tool that you can use not only for this project, but also for other paintings where you might feel uncertain about the composition. Now that we've outlined these simple leaf shapes, it's time to bring them to life using the negative painting technique. We'll start by mixing more green. For this, I'm combining transparent yellow, windsor blue, and paints gray with a touch of burnt sienna to slightly mute the vibrant green. This blend creates a rich and versatile green perfect for adding depth to our leaves. Let's begin with the first leaf on the left. To define its shape, we will wet the background area to the left of the leaf and then drop in the darker green mixture. Notice that I wet a much larger area than I plan to paint. This technique allows the paint to spread naturally, creating smooth transitions. Even though we wet a large area, the paint should be applied primarily near the leaf to define its shape. However, try to avoid creating a contour around the leaf, as this can appear unnatural. Now I will move on to the next section. This time, I'm wetting the background on the right side of the first leaf and at the same time on the left side of the next leaf. I'm working on the area between these two leaves. At this stage, we're setting aside the tulips and focusing solely on the background. Notice that I'm not applying paint across the entire wet area. Instead, I'm concentrating on the sections close to the leaves. We want the first layer to be visible, so I don't want to cover it entirely. As you can see the colors from the first layer applied in the previous step now serve as the color of the leaves that we are creating at this stage. The colors we are applying now will define the leaves we will create in the next part. The first layer served as a roadmap, a foundation for us. In this layer and the next, we aim to apply the same colors in the same places unless we want to make some adjustments. For example, if there is green in the first layer, I will also use green at this stage as well. If there is pink, I will apply pink now. If there is blue, I will use blue. However, we may also choose to make some changes. For instance, I'm layering green over pink to create a more muted version of pink. Since pink and green are complimentary colors, mixing them results in a neutral brownish tone. I'm also applying green over blue to achieve a bit more turquoise hue. Once you've finished painting the areas between these first leaves, allow everything to dry completely. This is my result after completing this step. In the next part, we will repeat the process to create another layer of leaves. 7. Leaves - Third Layer: This part follows almost the same process as the previous one. The goal is to add more leaves building on the depth we've already started. I'm using the same technique as before to create leaf shapes, employing tracing paper to position the leaves accurately. Additionally, I'm re using the stencils from the previous step to arrange the leaves in a way that complements decomposition. At this stage, we're painting the leaves that are tucked behind the ones we've already created. By adding a second negative layer, we will create an additional layer of depth. Each successive negative layer establishes shapes that appear further in the background, adding more dimension to the painting. That's why I like to say that with each layer, we're creating another layer of depth or another level of depth. Let's start again with a leaf on the left side. I want to demonstrate two different approaches to painting these leaves. These methods apply whenever you use the negative painting technique, not just in this specific instance. I think it will be easier to explain this with an example. So let's take a short break here. So in the first step, we painted the entire area, creating a foundation and a roadmap of colors. The second layer, we formed a leaf shape by painting around it using the negative painting technique. At this stage, we already have a shape defined by this approach, and now we want to add another leaf. So let's imagine that we want to create a new leaf shape like this one. There are two ways of how we can do this, two ways to proceed. Method one is maintaining separation. In this approach, we completely disregard the leaf that is already there. Imagine the existing leaf as if it's masked out. Applying water around the new leaf shape extended to cover the area surrounding the existing leaf as well. Once the paint is added to the wet area, it will create the background behind both the new leaf and the existing leaf. This method results in a new leaf shape that appears behind the previously created one, keeping the old one in the foreground. The second method is creating transparency. This method is slightly different. Here you apply water around the new leaf shape, but also over the existing leaf. When paint is added to this wet area, it covers the background of the new leaf while also partially overlapping the old one, the old leaf. This creates the effect of transparency, where the old leaf appears partially visible through the new one. It gives a more abstract and also a bit more interesting appearance. In this case, the old leaf visually recedes slightly into the background, while the new leaf appears in front, but with a transparent effect, since the new leaf itself is not painted directly. The result depends on where you apply the water and paint. If you want to create a layering effect where one leaf is clearly in front of the other, go with method one. If you prefer a more abstract, transparent look for the leaves, opt for method two. Let me demonstrate both methods so you can see the difference. On the left side, I want to use the second method to create transparent leaves. After drawing the shape, I applied a dark green to the corner on the left side of the leaf. Next, I applied water to the right side of the leaf, extending it over the leaf I created in the previous layer. By doing this, I intentionally overlapped the old leaf with the water layer. Now when I drop in my darker green color, it partially covers the old leaf. You can already see the effect even while the paint is still wet. Once this layer dries, it becomes even more apparent. The newly created leaf looks like it's positioned more in front while the old leaf recedes into the background because it's slightly covered with a darker green that we have just applied in the second layer. Next, I will continue painting the remaining leaves using the first method. I apply water between the leaves carefully avoiding the previously created shapes. I'm not applying water over those leaves that we've created in the previous part. When I drop in my colors, I ensure not to overlap the leaves that I've created earlier. This way, all the new leaves I'm painting now appear tucked behind those from the previous layer. For smaller areas, I may skip the wet on wet technique and instead apply a dark green paint directly using wet on dry. This is quicker and works well for tiny spaces. You can see now how the negative painting technique creates a sense of depth with multiple layers of leaves emerging. I've decided to stop at this layer, but you're very welcome to add more layers if you like, once this layer dries. There's definitely potential for more leaves, but I didn't want to overdo it or make this tutorial unnecessarily long. Feel free to add your own creative touch. This is how the painting looks at this stage. After adding the second negative layer, in the next part, we'll finish the leaves by adding simple veins to enhance their details. O. 8. Leaves - Veins: Now that everything is completely dry, we can add another layer of detail. This step is optional, but I think it adds a bit more character to the leaves. For this stage, I'll use a size four brush. I will stick with the same green I've been using throughout the painting, adjusting the tunnel value to ensure it harmonizes with the rest of the work. At this stage, I will add simple lines to the leaves to represent veins. This process is straightforward, not difficult at all, as you can see. Adding these small details makes the leaves more visually interesting. While it's not a realistic style of painting, it leans more toward illustration. I quite like the effect. You can leave some gaps in the lines to avoid making them look too mechanical, follow the shape of the leaf and bend the lines slightly to reflect its form. By doing this, you will better define the natural curvatures of the leaves. And that's it for this part. A quick and simple stage. Now let's move on to the next one, equally quick stage, painting the sky. C 9. Sky: In this quick and easy part, we will paint the sky. I decided to do this now before completely changing the color palette. Let's make some room on the mixing space for clean blue colors. For painting the sky, I'll be using a size ten brush. When I think of the sky, cobalt blue always comes to mind. It's such a beautiful color, perfect for sky. Unfortunately, it's granulating color, but sometimes there is no other option. Another option that I know artists like to use is cerulean blue, which is even more granulating. I'm not a fan of using granulating colors to paint the sky. However, in this case, I will use cobalt blue for the sky. To connect the sky with the rest of the painting, I will mix that cobbled blue with Windsor blue, which I used at the bottom of the painting. The combination of these two blues creates a perfect sky color while maintaining harmony with the overall palette. Adding Windsor blue will also reduce slightly the granulation effect. Create a generous puddle of a watered down mixture of these two blues. Using the wet on dry technique, start applying the paint from the left side and work your way to the right. Unless you're left handed and from the right, it would be probably easier for you. Since we're using the wet on dry technique, it's important to keep the paint very watery. This helps avoid leaving dry brush strokes on the paper, which can give the sky an overworked appearance. Painting the sky, try to keep the consistency of your paint at the same level. Notice that I slightly raised the left side of the painting. This allows the paint to flow naturally across the paper in the direction I'm painting. You might be familiar with those simple watercolor exercises where you create a smooth wash from top to bottom, maintaining a wet edge of paint that you keep pulling down. Painting the sky is a practical application of that concept. The goal here is to achieve a smooth, even blue layer. I dried the sky with a hair dryer, and now we are ready to move on to the next step finishing the background. In the next part, we will paint simple abstract shapes of tulips on the left hand side. 10. Background Tulips: Before we move on to painting the main tulips, we need to finish the background. There is one section that still requires our attention, the left side, where we can see some red tulips. Let's first prepare the colors we will need. As you can see, my palette is now nice and clean, and I've also changed the water so I can use clean colors. We will need red, and for that, I'll be using quinacrodon red with a touch of permanent rose added to it. We also need a slightly darker red, so I will mix quinacridone red with permanent sarin crimson to create a slightly darker cooler tone. On the other side of my palette, I will prepare burnt sienna and we'll add transparent yellow in a moment. Use the basic red to paint a simple shape like this. Here I'm using transparent yellow with some burnt sienna to paint the brown shapes. The paint consistency is quite watery and I'm working wet on dry. Now with permanent rose, I will start building the red shapes on the left. I'm using rose because there is yellow on the paper, and when I apply the rose, it will turn into red. Once these shapes are in place, we can dry them. As you can see, I'm painting very simple shapes and simplifying the whole area as much as possible. I'm focusing on basic shapes using a simple wet on dry technique. Now let the paper cool down a bit. In the meantime, let's prepare an even darker red tone. Mix quinacrodon red with permanent Azaren crimson and then add pains gray and burnt sienna. The pains gray and burnt sienna mixture creates a neutral dark tone that works as a darkening agent. Sarine crimson itself is darker than quinacredon red, but it wasn't dark enough to darken it further, we can add pains gray, which deepens the mix, but also shifts the color to a bluish hue. To neutralize that bluish tint, we add burnt sienna, which is complimentary to pains gray. I've created a short guide on darkening colors, which you can find in the class resources. I'm also darkening burnt sienna by adding a touch of Pains gray. Now, use the various shades of brown to paint the brown areas. This process might feel a bit chaotic since we're applying different colors to various areas, but that's how this section looks. It's difficult to break the steps down into a more organized process. The key here is to simplify this area as much as possible because it's just the background while trying to recreate its overall look. Use various shades of red to paint the flowers on the left, leaving gaps between the red sections to suggest the edges of the petals. This is a beautifully abstract area and not very difficult. As you can see, I'm using a basic wet on dry technique and painting simple shapes. After applying the red, I'm dropping in a darker tone in some areas to add depth. That's all I'm doing here. We will use this very simple approach for all the tulips. You will see that it's not difficult at all. We will simplify the tulips quite a bit, but I think the end result is really pleasing to the eye. B. I'm adding a bit of green in that area as well, along with a darker red layer in the corner. And that's all. Now, let's dry this section completely, and the whole background will be finished. Once the area is dry, we can remove the masking fluid. I will use a rubber masking pickup tool, but of course, you can use your fingers. Removing the masking fluid reveals that I wasn't careful enough and I dropped some paint on the tulip flowers. The yellow spatters aren't really a problem because those tulips will be yellow and red, so these marks will disappear under the layer of paint. However, the green, the dark green is not a welcome visitor. So to fix these spots, I will use a scrubber brush, which is stiffer than a regular watercolor brush. I'm using a Windsor and Newton galeria brush. It's a size four. But any stiffer brush will work. I will dip the brush in water, remove the excess, and gently wrap the spots of paint with the damp brush. This will activate the pigment, and I can then dab it with a paper towel to remove it. These spots may not come off entirely, but that's fine. They won't be visible later. I just want to lighten them as much as possible. Now we are ready to paint the flowers, starting with the stems. 11. Stems: In this section, we're going to paint the stems of the tulips. Let's start by preparing the colors. We'll use burned CNA as the main brown. For the lower part, we will transition from burnt sienna to a bit of transparent yellow and add Windsor blue at the bottom to create green. This will be the general color composition for the stems. Additionally, I will mix paints gray with burnt sienna to create a darker brown. Start by picking up the brown color and using the wet on dry technique, apply to the first stem beginning at the upper part. As you work your way downward, transition to more yellow. Finally drop in some green near the upper part. Repeat the process for each stem, start with brown at the top, and as you move downward, create a smooth transition to other colors such as yellow or green. You can either follow a reference or use your intuition to choose colors that appeal to you. The goal at this stage is to apply the base colors, creating smooth transitions between them. The upper parts of the stems closer to the flowers are usually darker in tone, but we will address that in the second layer. We'll be applying two layers to the stems. The first layer serves as a base and a roadmap. Even though I'm using fairly saturated colors, the single layer won't be enough to achieve the desired depth. Once it dries, the colors will appear too pale. That's why we will need to apply another layer to deepen the tones. After finishing this first layer, dry it with a hair dryer and wait a few minutes until the paper cools to room temperature. Painting on hot paper can be tricky as the paint would dry too quickly. Notice that the green areas on the stems resemble sunlight dancing across them, adding a natural and dynamic effect. Once the first layer is completely dry, we can apply the second layer. We will use the same colors as before. But with the buildup of layers, the tonal values will become darker and the colors will appear richer. At this stage, you can try to avoid painting over the edges of the stems. Leaving the edges lighter creates the effect of reflected light, which adds a sense of dimension and light to the painting. However, this step isn't strictly necessary as we will be using white guache later to paint those edges anyway. You can paint over the edges now as the guash will allow you to recreate the lighter edges. Alternatively, you can use a scrubber brush later to leave the lighter edges if needed. I'm also adding much darker paint near the flowers to suggest shadows and a depth. So Once you finish painting the stems, leave them to dry naturally or use a hair dryer. In the next step, we'll begin painting the flowers. H 12. Tulips - Initial Layer - Part 1: I hope you're excited because we are finally starting to paint these colorful flowers. I truly enjoyed working on them. They look like shimmering gems in the garden, creating a stunning effect. Before we begin painting, let me show you the result we are aiming for at this stage. By the end of this step, we want to have applied the base colors to each tulip. Doing this will completely transform the painting's mood. The cool green and blue color composition will shift into a vibrant, colorful palette that instantly brightens the artwork. Notice that we will be applying base colors to each tulip, but we will leave some areas unpainted where light falls on the petals creating strong highlights. Preserving these white areas is essential to capturing the effect of bright, natural light on the petals. Let's begin by preparing the necessary colors. I've cleaned my palette to create a fresh mixing space and changed the water as well. Now, let's mix all the main colors we will need for the tulips. First, let's prepare all the yellows, Windsor yellow mixed with transparent yellow and Windsor yellow deep set aside. Tse will primarily be used for the yellow orange tulips and to add yellow accents to other tulips. Next, let's prepare quinacridone red for the red tulips. Now for the pinkish tulip or the salmon colored tulip, let's mix queen acredon red with Windsor yellow deep. This will create that lovely pinkish salmon color. For the purple tulip, we will use a mix of permanent rose and ultramarine blue. This will give us a beautiful purple shade that we can adjust toward pink or blue depending on the area. Finally, we need to prepare a color for the white tulip in the foreground. When I encounter a color like this, neutral, beige and hard to define. I like to mix the three primary colors. I prefer using the primary colors already present in the painting or ones I plan to use to maintain color harmony. Here I'm mixing transparent yellow with quinacridon red and ultramarine blue. By combining these three primary colors, we create a neutral tone that can be adjusted by adding more of one of its components. Once I have this base mix, I compare it to the reference. If I notice, for example, that the mix is too yellow, I will add more blue and red to shift the tone. After adding the blue, I compare it again, and I might find that it needs a bit more yellow. It's all about fine tuning the proportions of the three primary colors until I achieve a similar tone. Remember, it doesn't need to be an exact match because nobody will be comparing or painting directly to the reference. The goal is simply to create something close. Now that we have the basic colors prepared, let's start applying them. We'll begin with the pink tulip on the left. I'll start by adding a light touch of yellow, which I can see on the upper left side and at the bottom of the tulip. After applying the slight yellow, I will move on to the tulips, main color or warm pink. At this stage, we want to apply a light version of the tulips main color while leaving the white highlights unpainted. In some areas that will eventually be much darker, we can already use a stronger, deeper tone of the warm pink. However, it's crucial not to go too dark in the lighter areas, as we want to preserve a sense of light on the petals. If there are distinctive shadow edges, we can define them now, but we should avoid getting too much into details at this stage. To help establish the general colors to apply, I've included a blurred version of the reference photo in the class resources. This can guide you in identifying the overall color composition. You can also look at the reference photo with squinted eyes to focus on the main colors of each flower. Oh For the red tulip, I'm starting with quinacridon red, but I will mix it with yellows because there is quite a bit of orange in the petals as well. My goal here is to establish the placement of the main colors red and orange. In the orange areas, I'm using a lighter tone while in the red areas, I'm applying a strong red mix, as the final result will be a vibrant red. Near the stem, I'm adding more yellow primarily the worm winds are yellow deep and filling the rest with a strong quinacridone red. While the paint is still wet on the paper, I will go over some areas again with quinacredon red. This red is incredibly vibrant and with a touch of yellow, it creates a fantastic effect. Next, let's move on to the yellow tulip. We'll skip the orange yellow flower below for now as it's directly touching the two flowers we've just painted, and we don't want the colors to blend between flowers. For the yellow tulip, I'm starting with a light tone of Windsor yellow. In the upper part, I'm using only a hint of yellow to maintain the luminous quality of the petals. A light tone is just enough here. Moving downward, I'm shifting to a warmer shade of yellow by adding more Windsor yellow deep with even a tiny touch of quinacrodon red for warmth. No. Now, we'll skip the tulip touching the yellow one and focus on the white tulip instead. Use a very watery mix of our light beige color and apply it to the shaded areas. Be sure to leave the white unpainted paper for the brightest highlights. At the bottom of the flower, near the stem, add a bit more yellow to warm up the color. We're applying a simple, smooth wash here. But the key is to preserve those white areas for the highlights. Now let's move on to the next flower that isn't touching the ones we've already painted. Take a watery consistency of permanent rose and start applying it to the middle of the flower, leaving the edges unpainted. The edges of the petals catch more sunlight, and we want to capture that effect in our painting. These small details, the tiny areas of light will beautifully enhance the overall perception of the painting. On the left corner of the flower, shift the color to quinacroton red. This variation in color adds depth and interest to the flower. For the next tulip, we also want to be mindful of the light areas. Use mainly permanent rows to cover the two petals on the left and right. The These petals create a hard edge with the petal in the middle. Let's define those hard edges now and we will add color to the middle petal later. At the bottom of the flower, once again, use yellow. At this stage, we need to take a short break since there are no other tulips we can paint right now. We need to let the ones we've already painted dry. Once they are dry, we can proceed with applying the initial layer to the rest of the flowers. A 13. Tulips - Initial Layer - Part 2: Okay, now the flowers are dry, we can continue applying the initial layer. Start by using a mix of transparent yellow and Windsor yellow to work on the yellow orange tulip. We always begin with the lightest tones and colors and then gradually layer in darker shades. Next, add a touch of quinacredon red to the yellow mix and use this vibrant orange to work on the darker areas. Quinacredon red creates a beautiful, lively orange with yellow. This mix is very similar to the orange that I already have on my palette, plus it's transparent. So I feel that I no longer need orange paint on my palette. Generally prefer mixing colors because it allows you to shift the hue toward one of the components, and this creates layers of color that look more interesting on the paper. The task for this tulip is fairly simple as well. Start by covering with yellow and adding more orange on the sides and at the bottom. On the left and right sides, you can even mix in more quinacrodon red to make the orange more vibrant. Now, let's move on to the next red tulip, begin with quinacridon red, but be a little more cautious in the upper part of the flower, as there are more highlights there. It's important to preserve those white areas, so try to apply the red while leaving those highlights untouched. On the right side, mix quinacridon red with a touch of yellow to intensify the red and shift it toward a warmer poppy red colour. At the bottom, you can also add a bit of permanent rose for an interesting color change. Now, let's tackle a small section of the yellow tulip in the back. Quickly apply yellow here. Again, being mindful to leave the white highlights unpainted. At the bottom at a touch of quinacredon red to shift the color toward an orange hue. Next, we can paint a small part of another tulip in the back, start with a very diluted mix of quinacridone red, and add a touch of warm yellow. Then shift the color to a purple mix of permanent rose and ultramarine blue. At the bottom, incorporate a touch of yellow to balance the color. Finally, for the flower on the right, use an orange mix of quinacridon red and transparent yellow. At this stage, we just want to cover the entire flour with this orange mix. Once that's done, pick up permanent rose and apply it in the middle of the flower. Now we need to dry the flowers with a hair dryer. Give it a few minutes for the paper to cool down, and then we will finish this stage by painting the last two tulips. Prepare a purple mix using permanent rose and ultramarine blue with more permanent rose in the mix. Start on the left side and carefully paint that small section, leaving the white highlights unpainted. Use a fairly dark mixture here as it will naturally be a darker area. Then using the same color, but in a much lighter tone, begin painting the main petals. Try not to paint all the way to the edge of this petal. Leave that edge unpainted or apply just a small amount of paint there because we'll be using a darker tone on the right petal, and we don't want the dark tone to bleed into this light petal. At the bottom, use more of that violet mix, adding a little more ultramarine blue. On the right side, again, leave the edges white to create strong highlights. For the main portion of the petals, use permanent rows and shift the hue slightly more toward violet by adding more ultramarine blue as you work down the petal. H, At the bottom of the petal, leave a small white section and fill that space with transparent yellow. Next, add a light pink to the middle petal of the flower we painted earlier. Leave the edge of the petal white and create a smooth transition to a very light tone at the bottom. Finally finish this stage by painting the tulip on the right with the same purple mix of permanent rose and ultramarine blue. Notice that because we've been using a watery consistency, the colors blended nicely on the paper, creating smooth transitions. This is the effect we were aiming for. At this stage, our painting has gained more character becoming bright and colorful. We now have a solid base for all the flowers, and from here, we just need to add more details to each one. Now proceed with painting the flowers in color groups, starting with the warm pink tulip on the left. 14. Pink Tulip: Let's start painting the flowers with the warm pink tulip on the left, which has a pink salmon tone. For this step, I will use a size ten brush. The approach is simple. In the previous layer, we established the lightest tones. Now we will focus on adding middle tones, and in the third and final layer, we will apply the darkest tones and finer details. By building the tulip in three layers, we will achieve rich, vibrant colors, create depth, and maintain the delicate, transparent quality of the petals. Let's begin. First, prepare three petals of paint, quinacredon red. This will be the main base color, quinacredon red and transparent yellow for a warm orange hue, quinacredon red, and a touch of ultramarine blue to create a darker cooler red. Start with a light tone of quinacredon red. Apply to the left side of the tulip using wet on dry technique to keep things simple and controlled. As you move downward, incorporate the orange mix, quinacrodon red and transparent yellow to reflect the warmth in that area. Because we are working wet and dry, maintain a fairly watery consistency for your paint. If the paint is too dry, it can leave unwanted dry brush strokes that give an overworked appearance. To avoid this, ensure your mixture is fluid and flows easily on the paper. Continue building the base, focusing on smooth transitions and keeping the highlights unpainted. We'll be using simple and basic techniques here, primarily the wet and dry method. Technically, there is nothing too challenging since we are simply applying colors to the paper. However, the more difficult aspect may be translating the reference image into a painting and deciding exactly what to paint. I hope that by closely observing the reference and following what I'm doing, you will gain insight into why I make certain choices and approach the painting in this way. Process involves building shapes, colors, and tones layer by layer. I simplify each layer focusing on creating clear shapes and using the colors I can see in the reference. With each new layer, I adjust the shapes and colors which become more intense due to the gradual buildup. As you can see, the second layer is very simple in terms of technique. Just a basic wet on dry application regarding the shapes we've painted. Well, it's not a simple circle, but rather an organic shape which isn't overly complicated either. I've transitioned the color from red to orange and adjusted the tone by varying the amount of water in the paint. B once you've applied the simple middle value layer, dry it completely with a hair dryer. Be sure to let the paper cool down before we move on to applying the next layer, which will include the darkest tones. There are darker streaks of color on the left side, so begin by applying quinacredon red as the base to deepen the red. Then pick up the darker mix of quinacredon red and ultramarine blue and drop it into the steel, wet quinacredon red to add that darker tone. B. To create a smooth transition, load your brush with quinacridon red and blend the colors gently. That's all for this streak. Next, I noticed we can darken a small area on the right side, use the darker mix in the upper part, and then transition to orange and soften the edge at the bottom. Once you've finished, try what we've just painted with a hair dryer. Pick up queen Accredon red again and let's paint another dark spot. Shape it into a half heart like form and then drop in the darker mix on the left side to add the darker shadow. Using a lighter tone of quinacridon red paint a line running through the middle of the petal. At bent lines branching out from that central line to create texture. Next paint a simple red shape at the bottom right, and don't forget to include a small part of the red tulip behind it. Finally, use transparent yellow to add color at the bottom of the flower. There is also a very subtle yellow tone in the upper left side that you can include to added detail. To finish, apply one more layer of quin acrodon red to the left side. If you need to, maybe your flour looks good, and you don't have to do this. Gradually transitioning the tone from darker to lighter by using more water. That's it for this tulip. We've built up a few layers which beautifully interplay to create a striking light and shadow effect. We'll paint all the other tulips in a similar manner, and at the very end, we will add tiny veins to the petals for extra detail. Now let's move on to the next part and paint all the red tulips. 15. Red Tulips: Let's begin with the red tulip on the left. For this flower, we will need quinacredon red, as well as a mix of quinacredon red and transparent yellow to create the orange tones. Start by applying the orange mix to the left side of the tulip. Next switch to quinacrodon red to paint the darker shadow along the left side. Three. At the base of the tulip, there is a hint of yellow, so leave some space for that, which will add shortly. For now, continue applying the red to all the red areas, carefully creating a hard edge to define the petals outline. I also noticed a hint of purple in this flower to incorporate that use the mix of permanent rose and ultramarine blue we used earlier for the purple tulips. Now that we've covered the large reddish orange area, we need to leave it to dry. I will speed up the process with a hair dryer so we can move on to another red tulip and repeat a similar technique. Using Quinacridon red, start painting from the left side of the tulip. There is a distinctive shadow here, so focus on recreating its shape. For now, I'm concentrating on the large main shapes and the most prominent dark areas. My paint consistency is still quite watery, which helps me achieve a smooth, even layer of color. And that's it for now. Nothing too complicated. Wouldn't you agree? It's just a simple red layer. If you follow along with me step by step, I'm confident you will create a beautiful result. After drying both tulips, we can return to the first one and focus on adding the darker tones. To achieve this, we will need a darker shade of red. Earlier, we created a darker red by adding a touch of ultramarine blue. While ultramarine blue can darken red slightly. Adding too much risks turning it purple. To avoid this, we will neutralize the blue by incorporating burnt sienna, which is a complimentary color to blue. For an even darker tone, we can use Panes gray instead of ultramarine blue. Pains gray has a broader tonal range and helps create a richer dark shade. Since Pains gray also has a bluish undertone, we'll still need burnt sienna to balance out that blue tint. With this combination, we've created a beautiful darker shade of quinacrodon red perfect for deepening the tones in our tulip. Let's start with just quinacridon red and apply it to the left side of the tulip. This layer will bring out a vibrant red tone. While the paint is still wet, pick up the dark red and drop it into the darker areas, working to create smooth transitions between the main red and the deeper tones. Now repeat a similar process on the right side. Apply the red to the large red area, but leave a small triangular shape on the edge of the petal where the light falls. Try to distribute the red tones in a similar manner. The darker red should flow from the yellow base to the upper right side of the petal. Once you've finished, leave the flour to dry. In the meantime, let's add darker tones to the other red tulip. Start by applying quinacridone red. This layer will make the red appear vibrant and provide a wet surface for adding darker tones. While the red is still wet, pick up the darker mix with your brush and apply it to the red areas especially at the bottom to create shading. Next, use the darker red to paint the shadow on the right side. Start with quinacridone red, adding a small amount of darker red to deepen the tone. Paint the shape of the shadow, and while the paint is still wet, drop in darker color at the bottom to blend. Now, let both flowers dry and give the paper a few minutes to cool down. Once the flowers are dry, we can add the darkest details. But before doing that, I want to apply a layer to this petal because it dried too pale, and I think it needs more orange. I'm using a mix of quinacridon red and transparent yellow to apply a quick orange layer. Afterward, I'll dry it with a hair dryer and we'll be ready to add the details. Now, let's begin by mixing burnt sienna with pains gray. This will give us a black color that we can use for the bottom of the flour. Start by applying an even darker red mix to the darkest areas. I'm mainly using permanent Azaren crimson. But if you feel like it's not dark enough, you can add a touch of that black mix to deepen the tone. Next paint two long lines running through the middle of the petal. Then pick up the black color and paint the dark shape at the bottom of the petal. Finally, add more yellow around the black shape. In the second flower, just paint the two long lines, and then we are finished with the red tulips. At this stage, we've already painted three tulips. In the next part, we will paint two yellow tulips and the orange one on the right hand side. 16. Yellow Tulips: To paint the yellow tulips, we will need bright, transparent yellow. I'm preparing a petal of this yellow next to the quinacridone red, so there is also a touch of that red mixed in. If we add just a tiny amount of the black mix we created earlier, we can achieve the muted yellow shade that's perfect for the shadow areas. I can see this color in the shadow of the first petal. As we paint, we want to establish the shadow on the left petal, creating a hard shadow edge while leaving the lighter yellow portion that suggests sunlight falling on that area. As you work your way downward, transition to a more orange tone by adding a bit of quinacridone red to your mix. Now repeat the same process on the right petal. Use more yellow on the upper part and more orange toward the bottom. Leave a lighter gap near the edge to create a highlighted area. For the second flower, I'm also using an orange mix, but this time, I will mix Windsor yellow deep with quinacredon red. The reason for this variation is simply to adjust the hue slightly. Windsor Yellow Deep creates a cleaner orange when mixed with quinacrodon red, and I want to use this combination for this flower. Using just these two colors, Windsor Yellow deep and quinacrodon red paint the entire area, focusing on the shape of the shadows. Use more quinacrodon red in the areas that are more reddish and leave a small gap at the bottom for the yellow. Once you've applied this yellow orange layer, we can move on to the other yellow tulip. For the small yellow section here, we don't need to do much. Just a simple orange shadow will be sufficient. Now for the orange tulip on the right, start by preparing a strong orange mix with Windsor yellow deep and quinacrodon red. Use this vibrant color to paint the petal. At the bottom, use a mix of permanent rose with ultramarine blue. The purple hint of color will work well here. Now we can dry these flowers, and once they are dry, we'll finish them by adding darker tones and details. Let's begin with an orange yellow mix of transparent yellow, quinacridon red, and just a tiny amount of black. Use this muted orange yellow to paint a few shadows on the petals. As you can see, I'm greatly simplifying the shapes. I'm even leaving some hard edges where I should have softened them. I think these sharp edges look really nice. For some reason, this effect reminds me of stained glass windows. Deepen the colors on the right side and notice that I'm leaving some gaps, so the lighter color from the previous layer remains visible. Add a darker yellow at the tip of the middle petal and at the bottom. Just like with the other flowers, paint a line running through the middle of the petal and drop in some black at the bottom. For the second flower, we'll use a strong orange mix again and create distinctions between the petals. In the darker areas, we can also drop in a touch of black. Finally, paint the lines in the middle and drop in black at the bottom. As you can see, it's the same process we're repeating for each tulip. What changes are the colors and the shapes we're painting? Finish the flower on the right by adding another layer of the orange mix, Windsor yellow deep, quinacredon red, and a touch of black. When the paint is still wet, drop in some permanent rows at the bottom. This will create a vibrant combination. We're very to finishing this painting. I know you're probably feeling tired, but remember that you can take breaks. You can always come back to the painting tomorrow or even a week from now. Don't rush and don't try to paint everything in one go. There is no need to hurry through this process. When you're tired or overwhelmed, mistakes happen. This painting requires some time to finish, so don't give up, but also don't force yourself to finish it quickly. In the next part, we will paint the white tulip. 17. White Tulip: To paint the white tulip, we need our neutral beige color. I'm going to prepare more of it because I'm sure the leftovers won't be enough. So again, I'm mixing transparent yellow, quinacridone red, and ultramarine blue. I'll keep a warmer, more yellowish shade of this mix on the left side and on the right side, I will add more ultramarine blue to cool it down a bit. This will give us a range of neutral hues to use for painting the shadows on the white tulip. Let's begin with the cooler shade and start applying it to the left side of the flour. For the middle section of the left petal and at the bottom, use a warmer shade with more yellow. We're partially repeating the shape we painted earlier, but this time, we want to create a sharp edge on the petal to distinguish it from the middle one. While the paint is still wet, I'm dropping in more of that warmer shade at the bottom and more of the cooler shade at the top. Now, let's paint the shadow on the right petal. This shadow is warmer with more yellow and has a simpler shape. Once you've finished, use a hair dryer to dry everything quickly, then wait a few minutes for the paper to return to room temperature. Next, let's apply another transparent layer, this time focusing on the darkest areas. Use the cooler shade on the upper left part, and as you move down, use a warmer shade. You can try to recreate what you see in the reference or simplify it as I do using simple shapes and wet on dry washes. With a lighter version of our neutral worm mix, paint a worm shadow on the middle petal. Also paint the line running through the middle of the petal and add small shadows at the tip of that petal. Add more shadows to the right petal and drop in some yellow at the bottom of the flower. If you drop in too much yellow, as I did, just rinse your brush, blood it on a paper towel, and try to remove some of that yellow with a clean de brush. When you finish, congratulations. You're one step closer to completing this painting. Dry the white flour, and when you're ready, let's move on to painting the purple tulips. 18. Purple Tulips: For our purple tulips, we will need a generous amount of purple mixture. Start by preparing a mix of permanent rose and ultramarine blue. On the left side of the palette I'm cleaning a small space to prepare pure quinacredon red. Begin with that quinacredon red and apply it to the corner of the flower first. This flower reflects the color of the red tulip, so we want to capture that in our painting. After applying the red, switch to permanent rose mixed with a touch of ultramarine blue and continue painting with this mix. We'll use this color to paint the purple shadow on the right petal. Now, let's move on to the next flower. Start by deepening the purple shadow color in that small area, then pick up permanent rose and begin painting the large shadow on the petal. As you go downward, transition to more purple. Avoid painting the yellow area at the bottom of the flower and continue working on the right side. Notice that I'm painting the entire shadow area in one go. Use more purple at the bottom part and on the sides and more permanent rows at the top. Again, leave the tips of the petals white for highlights. Continue working on the next flower using the same colors. We'll be painting those large shadows on the petals, creating sharp edges, and varying the colors within the shadows using pink and purple. Be sure to avoid painting the yellow areas at the bottom and leave any white highlights where they naturally appear. I think you will agree that this method of painting is not overly complicated. It's quick and effective. For the last purple to leap on the right, apply a darker purple color at the bottom with permanent rose higher up. Once you finish this stage, use a hair dryer and dry everything completely. At this point, here's how our tulips look. Now, we'll finish the purple tulips by adding the darkest shadows, creating clear distinctions between the petals and adding some finer details. I don't have much new advice to offer, as we are repeating the same process with the same colors. The shapes I'm creating are pretty simple, so there is not much else to add. I think it's best to observe the shapes I'm creating to finish these flowers, or you can refer more closely to the reference photo. Besides the main tulips in the front, I will also apply a slightly darker tone to the tulips in the background, which will help push them a bit further into the background. This will wrap up this part, and technically we could finish here. But in the next and final part, I'll show you what else we can do. M. 19. Final Touches: Congratulations on your patience and perseverance in making it to this final part. It's been a long journey, but I hope you'll agree that the result is well worth the effort and time spent on this painting. The flowers look really good at this stage as they are, and you could stop here if you'd like. However, one additional detail I enjoy adding is very thin veins on the petals. For this, I'll be using a size four brush. There are two main reasons for adding veins at this stage. First, veins add character to the petals just as they do to the leaves, since we've already added veins to the leaves, including them on the petals creates a harmonious balance between the two. This repetition of detail ties the composition together beautifully. Second, veins help to emphasize the form of the petals. The curves of the lines show how the petals bend and curl. For example, on this red petal, you can paint the veins in an arched shape, which will immediately enhance the impression of the petals curvature. These lines act as visual guides directing the viewer's eye and showing the movement of the petals shape. When it comes to colors, I stick to the same ones as I used to paint the flowers. These veins are subtle additions not meant to be overly prominent. I also avoid painting veins on every single petal as covering all of them might make the flowers look artificial. For the final touches, we can add tiny details using white guash mixed with watercolor paints. For example, mix red and yellow with white gouache to create highlights along the sides of the stems. Similarly, mix green with white to add highlights with a more greenish hue. Okay If you've lost some white highlights on the petals, you can bring them back using white guas or a tint of white mixed with another color. For instance, on the red tulip, I lost the white highlight at the tip of the petal. I can now restore it using opaque guash. While I don't use much guash in my painting, it's perfect for adding small necessary details. These final touches complete the painting. Now it's time to sign your work and remove the masking tape to reveal the clean border. I usually sign my paintings in the bottom right corner. If the area is light, I use a darker watercolor paint for the signature. If it's dark, I mix the background colour with white guash for better visibility. I prefer my signature to be subtle and harmonious with the overall piece. Now let's move on to the final part and summarize what we've learned in this project. 20. Summary: 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 divide the painting into smaller manageable sections, making it easier to approach a complex piece step by step without feeling overwhelmed. This method helps build confidence and ensures a smoother creative journey. We explored the possibilities of the negative painting technique which we applied to create the leaves. This technique added depth and definition to the leaves, making them stand out beautifully. These colorful tulips allowed us to experiment with a wide range of colors and their subtle shades. From bold reds and purples to muted neutrals. This project gave us the chance to utilize nearly the entire palette and understand how colors interact on paper. We tackled the intricate structure of tulips by simplifying their form into basic shapes. By layering just a few simple washes using the wet on dry technique, we achieved elegant yet detailed floral composition. We paid careful attention to light and dark elements within the flowers, ensuring that the petals conveyed a sense of lightness and transparency. This mindful approach helped create a realistic and luminous effect. Hope you enjoyed the process and feel inspired to paint this vibrant floral composition. Thank you again for spending this time with me. I really appreciate that. Happy painting, and I can't wait to see your beautiful creations. Goodbye and take care. Bye.