Himalayan Blue Poppies: Mastering Watercolor Techniques

1. Introduction: Hello, and welcome to my tutorial on painting Himalayan Blue poppies. Today, we're going to dive into creating the staunning blue flowers, focusing on capturing their unique character and vibrant colors with watercolor techniques. In this tutorial, we will explore how to bring out the rich blue tones of the petals. Create an interesting and dynamic background and capture the intricate details that make these flowers so special. Whether you are an intermediate or advanced watercolor artist or even a beginner looking to elevate your skills. This lesson will offer you new techniques and ideas to help you improve your painting. We'll start by masking off some of the tiny elements of the painting. You will see how effective masking fluid can be in preserving small details. Next, we will move on to building a lively, expressive background that complements the flowers without overpowering them. From there, we will focus on the flower buds and stems, including the delicate hairs that make them so distinctive. I'll show you how to capture these subtle details to add realism and texture to your painting. Finally, we'll tackle the magnificent blue petals and their striking contrast with the bright yellow centers, bringing the entire composition to life. The end of this tutorial, you will have your very own painting of Himalayan blue poppies, along with a solid understanding of some advanced watercolor techniques. I'm excited to guide you through this creative process, sharing tips and tricks along the way, that may even inspire you to see your future paintings in a new light. If you're ready to begin, gather your watercolor paints, brushes, and paper, and let's get started. 2. Project and Resources: I've prepared some valuable resources for your project, which you can find in the projects and resources section. There you will have access to a PDF with a list of the supplies I used for this painting, reference photos and my finished painting to guide you, line drawings in various sizes that you can print and transfer onto your watercolor paper with the size that best fits your preferences. I painted this piece on a 16 by 12 inch size. You will also find work in progress photos to help you follow along and focus on specific areas and templates for creating your own color wheel. Feel free to explore these resources and use them to create your unique and beautiful painting. Please share your progress shots and final painting with the class in the projects and resources section. I also encourage you to check out each other's work in the student project gallery. It's always inspiring to see the creativity of your fellow students and your support means a lot. Don't forget to like and comment on each other's projects. Lastly, I highly recommend watching each lesson before you begin your painting. This will give you a clear understanding of what to expect in each part of the tutorial. If you find this class helpful, I would greatly appreciate an honest review. Your feedback helps me improve the content and assist other students in deciding whether to join the class. Thank you in advance for your support. 3. Inspiration and Composition: This tutorial was actually inspired by one of the members of my art school who prefers to remain anonymous. Not only did she suggest the idea of painting Himalayan blue poppies, but she also provided us with some staning reference photos. A big thank you to her for sharing these images and allowing us to use them for this painting. Of all the photos, one immediately caught my attention. It was exceptional. There was something so dynamic and captivating about it, and I knew it would be a perfect reference for our painting. Now, a little background about this photo. It was taken in the gardens of government House in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This is a truly breathtaking setting, spanning 36 acres of carefully maintained gardens, native woodlands and historic buildings. This state serves as the residence of the lieutenant governor of British Columbia and has been designated as a national historic site of Canada. The gardens themselves are beautifully managed by volunteers from the friends of government House gardens Society, ensuring that they bloom with vibrant plants throughout the year. With this context, you can now appreciate the stanning environment that serves as the backdrop for our painting. The photo itself is fantastic. It's full of energy, interesting details, and of course, those breath taking colors. The vibrant blue of the puppies is particularly striking. While that's what makes the flowers so mesmerizing, it also poses a challenge when capturing it in water color. Though it would be wonderful to paint the entire scene or a composition with many flowers, would be too overwhelming for this tutorial. Initially, I considered focusing on a single flower, but the group of flowers on the right side of the image really stood out to me. The combination of the open flowers, the but with its spiky statements, the centers of those flowers and the delicate stems reminded me a bit of fireworks, a burst of color and energy. I thought this would make an exciting composition. So I began planning. This painting, I knew I wanted to work on either a 12 by nine or 16 by 12 inch paper size. Both have a four by three aspect ratio, but I was more inclined toward the larger size for two key reasons. First of all, bigger size, bigger impact, larger paintings often have that extra w factor. And second of all, more space for details. Working on a bigger surface makes it easier to capture finer details like the flower centers, which would be more challenging on a smaller size. The first step was to check how the composition would look if I cropped the image to fit these proportions. Here's where some useful tips for composition come in. The rule of thirds. As you can see, when you crop an image in photoshop, there is usually a grid that divides the frame into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. You can always imagine a grid like this. This is known as the rule of thirds. The points where these grid lines intersect are called focal points, and placing key elements of your composition near these points creates a more balanced and visually appealing painting. For this painting, I wanted to position the centers of the flowers close to those intersections. If you are painting a landscape, for example, you might place the horizon line along one of the horizontal lines or position a tree near one of the vertical lines. The rule of thirds works well for flower compositions too. It actually works for every subject. Extending beyond the frame. One technique I like to use is allowing some elements like flower petals to extend beyond the edges of the paper. This serves two things. First, it gives the painting an intimate feel as if you are up close and almost stepping into the scene. Second, it makes the background more manageable by dividing it into smaller, easier to paint sections. Avoiding tangents. A tangent occurs when elements in the painting touch in a way that feels awkward or creates an undesirable shape. For instance, if a petal just barely touches the edges of the paper, it can create attention that distracts from the overall composition. It's better to either pull the petal away from the edge or extend it further beyond the frame. Similarly, avoid placing petals or leaves too close together if they create an unnatural or distracting line. I once made this obvious and very visible mistake in one of my painting with roses. Here on the left side, you can see that the leaves and petals formed a nearly straight line, which disrupted the flow of decomposition. In hindsight, I should have adjusted the leaves or added more to avoid that awkward shape. Modifying decomposition. When I cropped the reference photo for the poppies, I noticed that the upper left part of the composition felt a bit empty. I also really wanted to include the bad as I found it visually interesting. Using photoshop, I simply cut the bad from its original spot and moved it lower within the frame. Additionally, I removed some of the less important stems on the left side to simplify the composition. Once I was happy with the general composition, I started thinking about the color palette, not only for the blue petals, but also for the background. I knew I wanted to introduce some changes to make the background more dynamic and interesting, and we'll dive deeper into this in the next section, where I'll share the fool proof color scheme I used for this subject. 4. Choosing Colors and Color Scheme: To start, you will need a color wheel with 12 colors. You can purchase one of them, but I highly recommend creating your own using the colors from your palette. It gives you a much better understanding of how your specific paints behave, and you will always have a handy reference that matches your tools. In the class resources, you will find a PDF file with a closer look at my own color wheel along with templates if you would like to create one for yourself. Typically when making a color wheel, we start with the three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue and mix them to create the full spectrum. But my color wheel is a bit different. Instead of focusing on mixing, the purpose here in this particular color wheel is simply to visually arrange the actual colors I use from my palette. For example, instead of mixing yellow and blue to get green, I directly used windsor green. Similarly, I didn't mix any colors to get yellowish green. I just used green gold. I only mixed colors. I don't have on my palette like turquoise, which I made by combining green and blue. I also mixed orange using transparent orange and a warm yellow. Even though I have windsor violet, I don't use it as often as my mix of magenta and ultramarine blue. So that's what appears on my color wheel as well. Goal of this wheel isn't to teach mixing, but rather to give you a visual reference for selecting colors. When I need a yellowish green, for example, I don't think about what to mix, I just grab green gold. For this painting, I decided to use a foolproof color scheme I learned from Jane or Hofstadter in her book, seven keys to great paintings. It's a simple yet effective approach, especially when you're unsure about which colors to choose. Here's how it works. The first step is to identify the dominant color in your painting, which is often the color of the main subject. In our case, it's the cool blue of the Himalayan blue poppy. Once you know the dominant color, rotate your color wheel so that the solar is at the top. But we won't use just one blue, one color. This color scheme includes two analogous colors on either side of the dominant color. These will make up the main color palette of the painting. The closer the analogous color is to the dominant color, the more you will use it. So we'll use more blue than purple, for example. Next, jump to the opposite side of the color wheel to find the complimentary color to your dominant blue. In this case, that's orange. Then look at the colors on either side of orange, yellowish orange, and reddish orange. These will serve as accent colors. They won't dominate the painting, but will be added in small amounts to complement the blues. You can also use different shades, tints, and levels of saturation for each of these colors. That way you have even more options to play with while keeping the color scheme cohesive. This method gives you a total of five analogous a complimentary color and two split complimentary colors. It's a great way to create a balanced harmonious palette. To help visualize this, let's look at two examples. If you have a physical color wheel, like I do, you can cut pieces of paper to cover unnecessary colors and reveal only those from a specific color scheme. You can create shapes for various color schemes. For example, this shape represents a complimentary color scheme. This one illustrates a double complimentary or rectangular tetratic color scheme. You can rotate it and adjust the colors to fit your painting concept. This shape depicts an analogous color scheme or what some might call an extended analogous color scheme. If it includes three colors, it's considered analogous. If it includes five colors, it's often referred as an extended analogous. Finally, this bat like shape represents a foolproof color scheme for our painting. It includes five analogous colors, a complimentary color to the dominant one, and two split complimentary colors. Actually, we could also say that it's a mix of an extended analogous color scheme and analogous color scheme on the other side of the wheel. Can rotate this shape around your color wheel to feed different subjects. To test how different background colors affect the overall composition, I used the procreate app on my iPad. I experimented with adding some yellow to the background as an accent color. In the upper part, I used lighter colors and hints of blue to echo the main subject and suggest some sky. At the bottom, I added a muted purple part of the analogous color scheme. Initially, the balance felt good, but the flowers weren't standing out enough. I tried incorporating more green which unified the background and brought more focus to the flowers. This made the shape of the flower on the left much clearer. I then shifted the background colors on the left side to purple, which I thought looked great. I kept the analogous color scheme dominant with small accents of yellow, green, and brown complementing the design. Remember, art is not math. The color scheme is just a guideline. You don't have to stick to it rigidly. Let it help you decide on colors, but feel free to experiment. One final tip is to always pay attention to tonal values. While I was testing colors, I constantly kept tonal values in mind. A painting needs enough contrast to really shine. For example, I want to keep the left side of the background dark to contrast with the lighter petals. On the right, the tonal values will shift with the flowers appearing darker against a lighter background. While the yellow and blue tones on the bottom right might be similar in tonal value, they contrast beautifully in hue. Now, let's talk about the specific colors we'll be using in this painting. As you may have noticed, photos on a screen often look more saturated than real life. So don't worry if the colors in your painting don't match exactly. The blue in our reference photo is bright and striking, leaning more towards turquoise than ultramarine. My first choice was windsor blue green shade and cobalt blue. If you have these, they will work well. But I remembered that I also have a tube of Manganese blue hue that I had never used before, and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to try it out. Monanganese blue hue is a fantastic blue color. Although it's made with the same PB 15 pigment as windsor blue, it has a different more turquise shade That is still not too green. I thought it would pair perfectly with windsor blue. Manganese blue and Windsor blue green shade became the main blues I used. I also used paints gray to create the darkest blues and incorporated cobbled blue here and there. I used cobbled blue because when mixed with windsor blue, they create a nice deep neutral blue that I noticed in the shadows. Besides the blue, we will also need a bit of purple. I'm going to add just a touch of quin acdon magenta to the blue. For the yellow, normally, I would use Windsor yellow deep. However, before I started painting this, I refilled the paints on my palette. Instead of using Windsor yellow deep, I accidentally squeezed out Indian yellow. I only noticed this when I was about to throw away the empty tubes. There is Indian yellow on my palette instead of Windsor yellow deep, and I used it in this blue puppy's painting. I wanted to let you know about this because I know that some of you follow my color choices very closely. However, any warm yellow like new gamboge, hansa yellow deep, Mayan yellow, or even quinacridone gold, although it might be a bit too brownish, could be used as well. Also one more note, Windsor yellow deep and Indian yellow are almost the same. You can barely see the difference between them. For the green, I used winds are green, yellow shade, and also incorporated burnt sienna in a few places. Now that we've covered the color scheme, let's move on to preparing the sketch and line drawings. I 5. Preparing a Sketch: Once my reference image was ready, I moved on to preparing the line drawing. For this, I used the procreate up on my iPad. I created a new Canvas measuring exactly 16 by 12 " and inserted the reference image. To make tracing easier, I lowered the opacity of the image and started on a new layer for the line drawing. I used a monoline brush with some stabilization for the tracing. This is always a fun part of the process. For me. There is something very satisfying about using procreate to trace the outlines. For areas where the image wasn't clear, like parts of the flower bad, I inserted the original photo and traced those sections from the photo. Some may argue that tracing is cheating, but I don't think using digital tools is cheating at all. These are just tools that help us in our creative journey. In fact, I don't even spend time debating whether tracing images, using white paint, using black paint, or even using masking fluid is cheating, It's art and we have the freedom to do whatever works for us if we have helpful tools. Why not to use them? What truly matters is the end result. Once the line drawing was complete, I exported it to my computer and opened it in affinity publisher. There I added a black box around the image to mark the boundaries of the artwork. I then saved the file and opened it in split print, which allowed me to resize the image to the exact dimensions I needed and split it into multiple pages for printing. Once the line drawing was printed, I cut off the unnecessary margins, and I taped all the pieces together. After taping, we should have a clean, assembled line drawing that's ready to be transferred onto watercolor paper. The method you choose for transferring the drawing is up to you. I like to use a very affordable light pad I purchased a few years ago. I tape the line drawing to the back of the watercolor paper, place everything on the light pad, and turn off the room lights to make tracing easier. I start by marking the four corners of the drawing on the watercolor paper so I know where to apply tape later. Then using an HB pencil, I carefully trace the entire image. This way, I don't have to worry about proportions or spend too much time fine tuning the sketch. I can trace it directly and jump into painting. Always double check that you've traced everything before moving on. Once that's done, I like to use a needed eraser to gently roll over the pencil lines. This helps to remove any axis graphite and lighten the sketch so it doesn't overpower the painting. I attach the watercolor paper to a gator board using staples. I place the staples about 1 " apart from each other to secure the paper properly. I don't pre wet the paper. Finally, I apply masking tape around all four sides of the paper. This will give the finished painting a nice clean white border. When the painting is done, I will cut off the stapled margins, leaving about one quarter inch of white border around the edges. With the sketch now prepared, we can move on to the next step applying masking fluid. 6. Applying Masking Fluid: M. Normally, I would mask off the edges of the flower to make painting the background easier. However, in this case, since the petals have very simple shapes, I'll keep masking them and just paint around them. But we definitely want to mask out the tiny details like the fine hairs on the bud and stems, as well as the statens in the centers of the flowers. For this, I'll be using Windsor Newton masking fluid. I pour a small amount into an old cup and quickly close the barrel to keep the fluid fresh for longer. For those fine hairs, we could use a tiny brush, but there are other tools that work just as well, like an embossing tool, deep pen, a toothpick, needle, rolling pen, or anything else that you think would work here. I will be using a deep pen for this task because it allows for smoother and varied lines depending on how much pressure is applied. Before starting, it's a good idea to test the flow on a scrap piece of paper. The masking fluid is flowing properly, we can begin applying it to the painting. Since these hairs are quite fine, I want the tip to be sharp while keeping the base of the hair a bit wider, closer to the butt. To achieve this, I press the pen harder near the base of each hair and then gradually lighten the pressure towards the tip. Alternatively, instead of using masking fluid, you could opt to add the tiny hairs later using opaque paint. For instance, after completing the painting, you could use gase or acrylic ink to add the hairs. This is also a valid option. Feel free to go this route if it suits your preference. In fact, I will also be using a bit of acrylic ink mixed with water colors at the end to make final adjustments and add more hairs where necessary. When applying masking fluid, try to make the lines random and natural. Avoid making them too straight or parallel. Give them a bit of wiggle, let them bend and allow them to overlap or cross each other. Remember, nature is beautiful in its imperfections. Also, be sure to add some hairs on both sides of the stem. When it comes to the center of the flowers, I applied masking to a few filaments. However, the real focus is on masking out those small yellow anthers, the round shapes. For this part, I switched to an embossing tool. It makes it easier to cover those round shapes effectively. The embossing tool, also known as a pen often used in nail art, is a simple metal tool with a small ball at the end. Since it doesn't have a reservoir for the masking fluid, you will need to keep dipping it into the fluid. Still, it's very effective for small details and it's easy to clean afterward. While working, I accidentally spilled some masking fluid onto the painting. If this happens to you, don't panic. The best thing to do is wait for it to dry completely before attempting to remove it. If you try to clean it up while it's wet, you could end up making a bigger mess. Once it's dry, it will peel off easily. Also applied masking fluid to the tiny light spots at the bottom of the flower centers. This is just to preserve those light areas that we want to keep in the final painting. You'll find an image in the class resources that shows exactly where I applied the masking fluid. This should give you a clear idea of where masking is necessary. Now, let the masking fluid dry completely before moving on to the next step, which is applying the first layer to the background. 7. Background - First Layer: Now that the masking fluid is completely dry, we can remove the accidental spill without any issues. The background of our painting is nicely divided into several areas, which makes it easier to paint. We will work on one section at a time, starting with the upper left corner. Let's start by preparing our colors. I have Manganese blue hue here, which I will squeeze out onto a separate plate for now. I'm not sure if I want to replace any color on my main palette with this color yet. For the moment, it will stay separate. Here I'm preparing cobalt blue. In the upper part of the mixing space, I will also mix paints gray, and on the left, I will add quinacrodon magenta. I plan to mix magenta with paints gray to create a dark muted purple. Notice that I'm adding a touch of mancanese blue hue to these colors. This helps to create a common denominator among the colors, sharing a harmonious blend. Repeating the main subjects color in the background enhances overall color harmony. Before diving into those purples and blues, let's start by applying a warm yellow around the bud. I'm using Indian yellow. If we apply this yellow now, it will help us remember not to cover this area with the background colors, especially on the right side. To paint the background, we need a larger brush. I'm using a size 12 brush. A big brush holds more water and paint, allowing us to cover areas more quickly. Start with a light tone of blue. We're working wet and dry, which is efficient with a large brush for quick coverage. Use a very watery paint consistency so that the colors blend seamlessly on the paper without visible brush marks. Apply the light blue tone first, focusing on the color composition and tonal values. Near the petal, switch to a darker tone, but keep it watery. Avoid creamy consistency to maintain a wet application throughout. When the paint is still wet, begin adding darker tones and adjusting the colors as needed. While we use the reference photo for color inspiration, the key focus should be on the distribution of tonal values. Remember, tonal values are far more crucial than the colors themselves. Paint around the yellow areas carefully. Near the stem, use an even darker tone and continue painting downward with a dark shade, add more paints gray to deepen the color. Keep in mind that this is not our final layer. While you could complete this in one layer by applying dark colors directly, I plan to revisit this area later for adjustments and additional details, as you will see in the final painting. Painting this area in two layers will allow us to achieve a richer depth of color. As we move downward, there's no need to worry about the hairs on the stem since they are protected by masking fluid. I'm rotating the painting here to make it easier to create a straight line. I know that it might be a bit annoying to watch, and I usually try to keep the painting in one position even if it's uncomfortable to paint. But in this case, it was really necessary. We've covered a nice section so far. The colors look good, not too saturated, which is exactly what we want. Using less saturated colors in the background makes the main subjects colors appear more vibrant. This technique helps achieve that rich vibrant look for the petals. Additionally, the high color contrast with the warm yellow on the right side makes both colors appear more energetic and vivid. Next, let's focus on the smaller triangular shape on the left. For this area, I'm starting with a dark mix of windsor blue, cobbled blue, and paints gray. The combination of cobbled blue and windsor blue creates a deep neutral blue and paints gray darkens it further. Sorry, again, for rotating the painting, but it's easier to work with this shape, having it on the left side. In this section, we'll begin adding green at the bottom to maintain color continuity behind the petal. I'm using Windsor green, yellow shade, which will mix with the blues to create a rich turise that fits our color scheme. In the bottom left corner, let's start with Windsor green mixed with Indian yellow. This combination creates a rich green similar to Hooker's green. I also added a touch of magenta to introduce purple tones, but I ended up moving away from the reference and decided to stick with a deep turquoise. If you prefer a closer match to the reference, feel free to mix more magenta and blue to create a purple hue. Sometimes these quick decisions are part of the painting process. Oh. Tilt or painting to help the paint flow and blend nicely. Oh Next, let's move on to the upper part and work on the right side of the stem. I'm starting with Manganese blue. I'm using a lot of water and painting around the yellow areas. The water might be slightly tinged with previous colors, but that's perfectly fine. It can help in painting the lightest areas. Carefully paint around the petals. Now, add some dark blue and windsor green to this area. Let this color to create a deep neutral green tone. H h add more paints gray to darken the area further. You should now see a difference in tonal value between the left and right sides of the stem. This difference is also why I will need to apply another layer on the left side to deepen the color and match the tonal values. Continue painting with this deep dark tone until you reach the blue petal at the bottom. Next, pick up Manganese blue hue or cobalt blue, if you're using that and paint the petals extending the blue into the background. We will use the negative painting technique later to define this shape. In the upper right corner, start again with the tinged water. Then mix winds or green with the dark blues and apply it to the corner and along the petal. Allow the colors to spread and blend. You can also add a touch of manganese blue hue to this mix. If the paint isn't spreading well, add more water. Here I use my spray bottle to quickly add more water to this area without disrupting the paint with the brush. The water might flow onto the petal, but we'll address that later. Finally, let's focus on the bottom right corner. Begin with clean Indian yellow and apply it to this area. Blended out slightly to create a smooth transition. Now pick up winds or green and add it to the mix. Make sure to add plenty of water to keep the area thoroughly wet. Next, take a Manganese blue hue and apply it to the entire flower, allowing it to blend with the other colors. Even though Manganese blue is quite watery, it still provides a rich tone. This isn't a diluted wash, but the strength of the color while maintaining a watery consistency. Beginning to use a negative painting technique here. Our goal is to connect the flower with the background, creating the effect of the flower emerging from it. In this first step, we're applying colors to both the flower and the background as if they were one integrated piece. I want the bottom right and upper left corners to be a bit more dynamic. Instead of leaving them with flat, smooth washes, I aim to create more texture. To do this, I'm spattering some manganese blue to add blue dots. I will further develop these areas in the second layer to add additional texture and depth. At this stage, we can clean up the edges by removing any excess water or paint from the tape. When the paint is still wet, but no longer overly so, just as light sheen remains, we can spatter some clean water to create additional effects. If the sheen has disappeared as it has on the left side, it's too late to add water now. If you prefer not to add these effects, that's perfectly fine. However, they can add extra interest and enhance the watercolor look of the background. Now, take a look at the paper. At this point, you should see a low sheen on it. I will speed up the video here. Once the sheen is gone, the paper will still be wet inside, even if it's not visible. When the sheen has disappeared, you can use a hair dryer to dry everything completely. I used to let paintings dry naturally, which took a long time, but now I rely on a hair dryer. Just remember that using a hair dryer heats the, so be sure to wait a few minutes for it to cool down before applying paint. If you paint too quickly after heating, the paint can dry too fast and become difficult to work with. In the next part, we will enhance and complete the background. 8. Background - Second Layer: Oh. The first layer has dried completely. Now let's take a look at it and make any necessary adjustments before we begin painting the flowers. First, we need to address any paint that has spilled over onto the petals. I will use a scrubber brush. It's the Windsor Newton galeria brush size four. With a damp brush, I'll gently scrub the area and then blot it with a paper towel. I won't be able to remove all of this because those are staining colors, but this will help lighten this area as much as possible. This is also a good time to refine the edges of the petals. If the background colors have created jagged edges on the petals, use the scrubber brush to gently work the paint on the edges and smooth them out. Dab the area with a paper towel to lift excess paint and achieve clean smooth edges on your petals. Now it's time to focus on the background, particularly the upper left and bottom right corners. Let's prepare more paint, specifically dark neutral purples and blues. I'm starting with a generous amount of paints gray. Below that, I will clean a space on my palette to mixed blue, windsor blue, and quinacrodon magenta. We'll blend these colors on the paper to achieve the desired effect. At this stage, we'll be painting wet and wet to allow the colors to spread and blend smoothly on the paper. Let's start with a deep dark blue that includes a touch of quad magenta. Oh. Shift the color towards blue, then incorporate a bit of windsor green. Remember, your background will likely differ from mine. It's impossible to replicate it exactly. Feel free to get creative with your color choices and techniques. Maybe you want to use different colors or paint the background in your own unique way. I'm just sharing one approach to achieve this effect. I've also added Manganese blue hue to the mix. As I approach the bad, I want to shift the color more towards purple. So I'm incorporating paints gray and magenta. Tilt your painting in different directions to encourage the paint to move and blend. You can drop in some water or spatter paint to create interesting effects, but it's best to wait until there is a bit less water on the paper. I noticed a slight indent on the paper because it's a bit and to prevent the paint from pulling in those areas and keep moving the painting. I'm spattering some of that lovely manganese blue hue to add a vibrant blue touch. Now, let's remove any excess water to ensure the surface is evenly wet. Tilt or painting to distribute the colors and water across the paper. Next, apply a dark mix of magenta and paints gray working downwards. At the bottom, I want to match the color to the one on the other side of the stem. I'm adding more windsor blue with a touch of green. Switch to a smaller brush. I'm using a size eight and dip it in water to spatter some water drops. With a low sheen steel on the paper, this is the perfect time to do this. The smaller brush helps create finer drops, giving you that desired effect of soft spots without the risk of overly letters. I'm really pleased with how it's turning out so far. At this stage, I believe that once the paint dries, the tonal values will match the tones of the two dry areas on the left and at the bottom. I don't plan to apply another layer to those areas since they seem dark enough already. However, I do want to slightly darken the area on the right side of the bud to better align with the tonal value on the left. I'm wetting this area and adding some darker tonal values with lighter tones at the top and darker tones at the bottom. For the lower part I'm using more paints gray and adding a touch of Indian yellow to achieve a deep dark green tone, allowing the paint to spread in the water. I'm also adding more water to give it more room to spread. This was a bit risky, but I also applied Indian yellow to the hairs. My aim was for the yellow to blend smoothly with the blue. The risk was that the blue could spread too much into the yellow area, potentially covering it completely and causing me to lose that yellow color. However, knowing that yellow generally pushes away other colors, I decided to take this risk. If you're unsure, it's better to wait and add the yellow later when we move on to painting the bud. Also spattering some water droplets to achieve those soft lighter spots. Next, let's darken the small section to match the tonal value of the area on the left side of the stem. Apply this dark blue only in the background, avoiding the petal at the bottom. This is a bit of a negative painting technique where we paint around the object, in this case, around the blue petal to bring out its shape. I won't be adding another layer to the upper right corner, so let's move on to the bottom right. First, paint this tiny triangular shape to define the petal shapes. Now it can be really creative in this area. If you're satisfied with your first layer, that's great. I want to add a bit more texture here. I'm starting by applying a water layer in this area, carefully working around the blue petal. Now I'm going to drop in some rich juicy colors. First, I will use a slightly darker shade of Manganese blue hue, mixed with just a touch of pines gray, though it remains predominantly Manganese blue hue. I'm applying this near the petal. Notice how the colors spread nicely in the water, creating soft edges. In the corner, I'm adding a mix of windsor blue and Indian yellow, and I'm also spattering some Indian yellow mixed with a touch of the green I just used. Oh. Finally, I think a worm burnt sienna will work well here. I'm adding that in as well. It might look a bit chaotic now, but that's intentional. I want various colors blending together to create textures with both soft and hard edges along with some spatters of paint and water. This adds a creative touch to the painting. While I appreciate realism, I also enjoy living room for creative interpretations. Now clean up the edges and let everything dry completely. In the next part, we will paint the bad and the stems. I 9. Bud and Stems: Before starting on the bad and stems, remove the masking fluid from the hairs. You can use your fingers or as I prefer, a rubber masking pick up tool for a cleaner removal. This will reveal the shapes that we've preserved, along with any potential mistakes, like how some of my stem hairs appear to float instead of being part of the stem. We will correct these later with opaque paint. For this section, I'll be using a size six brush. I've set aside the Manganese blue hue for now and also changed my water to keep it fresh. Prepare Indian yellow and burn Sienna for the hairs. If you add a little paints gray to the burnt sienna, you will get a less saturated brown. Adding more paints gray will give you a dark brown, which we'll need later. Start with Indian yellow, carefully applying it to all the hairs. If you accidentally paint outside the lines, don't worry. On the right side, apply the yellow at the tips of the hairs and try to leave some white paper close to the butt. Clean your brush, blot it on a paper towel, and then use a damp brush to gently blend through the white area. This will allow some of the tinged yellow water and yellow from the hairs to create a very pale shade of yellow. Next, add a tiny bit of windsor yellow to your yellow brown mix to get a very light watery tone. Apply this from the top, leaving the right side white. When you reach the bat, use more winds or green to cover it with a warm green, leaving the right side unpainted. Run Indian yellow along the edge of the green for a warm glow. Keep the right side of the bat unpainted for highlights. At the bottom of the stem, apply burnt sienna. If we mix windsor green with burnt Ciena, we can create a nice natural green. Use this green to paint the stems covering the middle part of each stem while leaving the edges white. Next, apply yellow to the edges of the stems. Making the edges warmer and lighter than the middle section, will give the stems a warm glow and importantly create the illusion of a rounded form. Continue applying the green to the lower part of the stems using more Indian yellow at the bottom. This will ensure the stems are and lighter at the base. O Additionally, cover the hairs with Indian yellow to complete the look. On some of the hairs, apply burn Ciena to introduce more color variation and prevent them from looking too similar. This will add interest and reflect the different amounts of light they catch, creating a range of tones. Also apply the green to the two shorter stems. Once we've finished, dry everything with a hair dryer. When everything is dry, we have a solid base to build on. Now we can add more depth by incorporating shadowing and details. I'll be using a size ten brush for this. Prepare a dark mix of Indian yellow, winds are green, and paints gray. Additionally, we will also need a lighter and warmer shade of Indian yellow and green for the details. Start by applying the green from the upper part of the stem to create a shadow on the left side. When you reach the butt, apply a water layer over it, except for the white highlight. Then pick up the dark green and apply it to the left side and the bottom of the butt, keeping the right side lighter in tone. A at the bottom of the stem at Moor Burn Siena. Next, pick up a slightly denser and darker green tone and apply to the bud, leaving the left edge lighter to represent reflected light. This will help create a rounded form by keeping both the left and right sides of the bud lighter. While you're working in this area, also paint the negative shapes between the hairs. Use a darker tone to define the hairs by painting the spaces between them. I do the same on the right side using Burnt Sienna for this purpose. Oh. Add more yellow to the hairs. If you're working on a smaller size than 16 by 12, this might be challenging, and you may need to simplify the process. If I were painting on a 12 by nine size, I might s k masking the hairs and add them later with opaque paint. Use a hair dryer to dry this area completely. Once dry, use a scrubber brush to soften the edge of the high light, creating a nice glowing effect. You can also use this brush to lift some paint on the left side to bring back the reflected light. At this point, the bat may still look flat and lacking in darker tones, as well as texture. To fix this, use a dark green tone and apply many tiny marks with just the tip of your brush. This will add a hay texture to the bat and introduce darker tones. For the upper right side, switch to a lighter green to highlight the warmer side of the bd. Next, let's move on to the stem, apply dark green to the stem, making it lighter on the right side. For the brown area, use a mix of burn Siena and pains to add those tiny marks. Now, switch to a larger brush as I stan, will work well here and paint the stems. Apply dark green in the center and keep the edges a bit lighter to create a natural gradient. Apply the green to the other two stems as well, keeping the upper parts as they are in the shadow under the petals. Gradually lighten the color towards them of the stems. Finally, for an optional additional layer of detail, use opaque paint to refine the hairs. Acrylic ink works well, but white guash is also a good choice. Mix it with some yellow and brown to achieve an opaque light brown color. Use this mixture to define the hairs more clearly and to add tiny hairs to the bat and stems. Instead of using white guash or acrylic ink, you might consider purchasing gua or acrylic ink in various colors and using them straight from the tubes. While white is useful, mixing it with other water color panes often results in a pastel. Having a range of ready colors can be more practical. For instance, using yellow ocher gouache paint could simplify adding those hairs rather than mixing acrylic ink with water colors. I actually have around 12 gouache colors, which proved very useful when I painted a piece featuring Bs for my brother. While the painting was primarily done with water colors, you can see that the green plants over a dark background were created with guache. Similarly, the yellow flower and some leaves were painted with gouache over a dark blue background. The blue sky was painted with water colors and once dry, I added the plants on top. This technique is quite effective. Although the painting isn't 100% water color because of the use of gouache, it doesn't really matter since it wasn't intended for competition. What matters is the final result. H. Great, the stems and the bad are complete. So now we can move on to painting the main flowers. I hope you're excited for the next steps. 10. Initial Layer on the Petals: Before we start painting the petals, it would be a good idea to add some color to the sepal as it seems quite lonely and sad. Apply some green to the left side behind the stem first, then move on to the sepal itself. Try not to overthink this process. Focusing too much on perfection can detract from effectiveness. At this stage, we are aiming to apply basic colors. Although it's a small area, it has a few colors. Start with burn Siena at the top, then switch to Indian yellow. Next, blend burn Siena with paints gray to create a darker brown H Finally, add some green, making sure to darken it towards the lower part. It doesn't have to be painted. Hard edges or blooms are completely fine. Nature is perfect in its imperfections. We will revisit this area later to add more texture. For now, this is just the base. Darken the corner in the upper part, and if needed, darken the green on the stem as well, just like I did. That's all for this part. Now let's move on to the petals. For the petals, I will be using Manganese blue hue. Alternatively, you can also use a very, very diluted wash of windsor blue green shade. Start by applying a mix of Manganese blue hue with magenta to the purple areas close to the center of the flowers. Use more magenta and less blue. By applying this mix now, we will have it in front of us, which will help us remember not to extend the blue too far. We want to preserve those purple areas. Even if some blue is applied over them, the area will still retain its purple hue. Blend away this purple so that it transitions well with the blue later on. Finally, let's dry this quickly with a hair dryer. And now the fun part begins. We need a large brush. I will be using a size 12. Ensure your manganese blue hue is clean and diluted with water. At this stage, we need a light tone of this blue to create the lightest areas on our petals. This initial layer will give us a nice blue undertone and will also serve as our highlights. Start applying the paint on the left hand side of the petals. Use your largest brush and a very watery paint consistency. Since we're working wet and dry, it's crucial to keep the paint well diluted. It's a good idea to use a small container, squeeze some paint into it, add water, and mix it very well to create a lot of diluted paint. This way, you won't need to keep adding water. You will simply dip your brush into the mixture, maintaining a consistent paint consistency throughout. I will be diluting the paint on the palette as I go, aiming to keep the consistency fairly uniform. Apply this blue eye on the petals, except for the tip of the stamen and the purple areas. Blend the blue into the purple where they meet. O. I'm also diluting more paint to prepare for the second flower. Even though we are applying a flat blue wash, try to move your brush in the direction of the petal shapes. For example, paint from the center towards the tip or sa. If the petal is slightly bent, follow that curve. This way, if any brush marks do appear, they will follow the natural shape of the petal, making them less noticeable. F Now that we have a nice blue base, it. Make sure that it's completely before moving on to the next step. This is at this stage. 11. Flower in the Back: Now that we have a base blue on all our flowers, we can start adding shadows and details. The flower in the back will be a good area for experimentation. In this part, we will paint this flower and test if our color choices for shadows work well. Spoiler alert, they will. In addition to Manganese blue hue, we'll need a mix of cobalt blue and windsor blue to create a rich deep neutral blue. For the darkest blues, we will use paints gray. I'll be using a size ten brush. Although I initially began by applying a water layer, I realized that the area is small enough to paint. At this stage, we need to focus on the distribution of tonal values. We only have a range of blues to work with. Manganese blue for the lightest value, a mix of cobalt blue and windsor blue for the middle value, and paints gray for the darkest blue. A useful technique is to convert your reference photo to black and white to focus only on tonal values. This is a smart move at every stage of the painting process. For example, you can take a photo of your painting at a certain stage, converted to black and white and do the same with your reference photo. Comparing these gray scale images, helps ensure that the tonal values in your painting match those of the reference. While colors are not relevant here, the key is to ensure that darkened light areas are accurately represented. For example, this entire flower is generally than the main flower because it's in the background. We need to capture that difference. Also note that the area under the petals is darker than the rest. This contrast is crucial as it helps define each shape and petal. After completing and drying this first section, I'll switch to a size 12 brush. I'll start by applying the dark tones to the petal and then fell in the areas between them. However, I made a significant mistake here. Notice how my paint has created an wash and how quickly hard edges have formed. This happened because I didn't wait long enough for the paper to cool down. A few moments ago, I used a hair dryer, which heated the paper. As mentioned earlier, it's crucial to wait until the paper cools down after using a hair dryer. Otherwise, the paint will start drying too quickly, and that's exactly what happened here. I really struggled to achieve a smooth wash and blend the colors effectively because the paint was drying very quickly in some areas, leading to an uneven wash. Initially, I blamed the Manganese blue hue for this issue, but it was actually my mistake. Learn from this and make sure the paper is fully cooled down after using a hair dryer. To be completely honest, I was very frustrated at this stage and even considered discarding the painting and starting over. I struggled with this area and wasn't pleased with the result. However, I'm really glad I didn't give up because this flower and the background have become my favorite parts of this painting. I love the texture of this flower and how it turned out. Lately, I've developed an appreciation for textures and imperfections in watercolor paintings. Do you think this flower has its own unique character? The beautiful with a slight greenish tint from the background, making it a bit more greenish blue compared to the reference and the two main flowers. I think it looks really cool. Now let's move on to adding some shadows to the main flowers. 12. Shadows on the Main Flowers: Oh. This part shouldn't be too difficult if you're familiar with the wet on wet technique, but it will require some patients. Make sure you have enough time to work on it calmly. It took me around 1.5 hour to complete the stage. The goal here is to add shadows to the petals. We will use the wet on wet technique to create smooth colored transitions between the shadows and the light blue that's already on the paper. It's helpful to have a separate container of clean water for applying the water layer. I'm using a size 12 brush and I will paint each petal individually. Start by applying a water layer over the first petal. Look at the water layer from an angle to make sure that it's applied evenly and there are no dry spots. Next, pick up windsor blue and begin applying it. Focus on the dark areas where the petals overlap and the indentations and folds on the petals. I've switched to a size eight brush. At this stage, we're not adding details such as veins. The goal is to paint shadow areas and establish the basic form of each petal. The darker spots will suggest indentations while lighter areas will indicate raised parts. This approach helps visually represent how the petals bend and fold. After finishing the first petal, move on to another petal that isn't adjacent to the one you have just painted. This helps prevent paint or water from flowing to the neighboring petals. I skipped the petals directly next to the first one and focused on the separate petal. For this darker petal, I started with paints gray near the center and then transitioned to windsor blue as I moved downward. Observe how the paint spreads as you apply it. Adjust the paint consistency based on how much you want it to spread. If you want to limit the spread, you can either use a denser paint consistency, which will result in a darker tone or wait a few more seconds for the water on the paper to be absorbed slightly. Less water on the paper will result in less spreading. H Try to leave some gaps between your dark areas. These gaps will create highlighted sections that suggest raised areas or s on the petals. The color applied in the first layer represents the highlights. Maintaining some lighter gaps will help in effect. If the paint spreads too far and covers too much of the area, you can lift it out while it's still wet. If highlights are completely covered and you can't save them, let everything dry fully. Later, you can use a scrubber brush to lift out the paint and restore some highlights. Now there's nothing more to do on the flower on the left, so I'm moving on to the flower on the right. I will start with the two large petals on the right. I'm wetting the entire area of the petal. Notice that I'm not rushing the process. It's important to work slowly and carefully. The water layer dries quickly, stay calm and apply a second layer of water. The second layer will not dry as fast as the first one. If necessary, apply a third layer. Even in a hot climate, the third layer will not dry immediately due to the physical properties of the paper. This process known as priming involves the first layer of water soaking into the paper quickly. This may give the impression that the paper is drying fast, but the paper remains moist inside. The second layer of water will stay on the surface longer because the paper already contains moisture from the first layer. Typically two water layers are sufficient, but if the second layer evaporates too quickly, a third layer can be applied to ensure proper priming. On these petals, I'm following the same process. After applying two layers of water, I'm adding windsor blue. The key point here is where the darker tones are placed. The lower petal is generally with more pronounced shadows, especially near the center, so I'm pains in that area. I'm tilting the painting to control the movement of the paint until it sells into place. Next, let's return to the first flower. To make sure that the petals are really dry, I'm using a hard dryer. For this petal, I'm not applying water over the entire surface. I've left one area for the highlight with hard edges. This illustration shows where the water was applied. Start by applying dark blue in the upper section and work towards creating a smooth transition from dark to light blue. Oh Next, move to the lower part of the petal and continue applying the shades of blue. Notice how hard edges form where the surface. Use a darker tone of blue near the center of the petal. Once you've applied this, you can leave the petal as it is. For this similar section, start by applying a water layer, then add some darker blue. Remember to lighter gaps between the darker areas to ct. On this petal, in addition to the blues, we can in a touch of magenta in the purple area near the center. Pay attention to how my brush strokes follow the petal shape to ensure a natural. Oh. We're now down to the smaller petal. I'll be painting them in the same manner as the larger petals, so there is nothing new here. I will switch the camera angle to give you a different perspective. Oh, Once you've completed this stage, let everything dry completely. Taking a break from painting is a good idea, as this was likely the most challenging part of this tutorial. So celebrate your progress. In the next part, we will add ins and deepen the shadows on the petals, using a technique to finalize the details. Congratulations on getting this far. See you in the next part. 13. Details on the Petals: Make sure everything is completely dry before we move on to adding more details to the petals. We'll be focusing on adding vein lines and darkening some shadows using a size six brush. Start by using a light tone of a windsor blue and apply it with a wet on dry technique. This means we'll be working directly on the dry paper allowing us to create precise lines and details. At this stage, I'm using a bit of artistic license. Instead of trying to recreate the reference photo exactly, I aim to capture the essence of the petals. While we could meticulously replicate every detail and shadow, we can also simplify the process. My goal is to paint lines of varying widths to represent the folds and veins on the petals. This is a great opportunity to practice both wet on dry technique and your brushwork skills. When adding vein lines and shadows, keep the following tips in mind. Paint lines that follow the natural curves and folds of each petal. This helps convey how the petals are bent and folded, creating a more realistic texture. Use the tip of the brush for thin lines and apply more pressure for wider lines. This allows you to vary the width of your lines to match the different folds and veins of the petals. Begin with a light tone of winds or blue. This way, you can see if the lines are in the right place and have the desired shape. If they are not quite right, you can easily adjust them. Lighter tones also make any corrections less noticeable. Build up your details gradually. Start with the lighter lines and add darker tones as needed to enhance shadows and depth. This approach helps maintain control over the final look and ensures a more polished finish. By following these guidelines, you'll be able to create detailed and expressive lines that enhance the texture and depth of your petals. We can also use this stage to deepen some of the shadows. Remember, you can always employ a darker or lighter shade of blue. Introducing tonnel variations within those stripes will make them appear even more dynamic. On the petals, we need to recreate the attractive curvature. There is a dark shadow indicating the indentation, so use darker blue tones to capture the shadowed area accurately. It's crucial to follow the shape of the petal closely. Although these lines might seem random, they align with the petal structure to effectively convey its form. In this lighter area, I'm first adding shadow near the edge of the petal and then some stripes to indicate the petals ness. We can also slightly darken the area close to the edge while keeping the edge itself lighter. This technique helps to illustrate roundness. The form shadow is der while the lighter edge reflects light, a common characteristic of rounded objects. For the smaller petals, just a few curved lines should suffice. At this stage, I'm not closely referring to the ph. Instead, I take a mental note of the most prominent elements, shapes, and values, and then integrate that with my vision of what will look good in the painting. M Oh. Near the center of the flower, we can adjust the hue to include more purple by adding magenta. We want to retain that purpish tint in these flowers, which have distinctive colors, blue petals, purple centers, and contra stats. In the area of the statements, we have white filaments and yellow anthers. Since the filaments reflect the blue of the petals, they are not truly white. You can paint the negative spaces between them to define their shapes. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can also use opaque paint to apply the filaments directly over the blue. Notice how light the color is that I am applying to the petal. Just one tone darker than what's already on the paper. I'm adding a saddle pattern with these stripes to avoid a flat appearance and give the petals more visual interest. You should be able to replicate all those lines accurately. However, if you want to match my work more precisely, including the direction and placement of the lines, it's better to follow the photo rather than the video. The video shows the process and technique, but watching me paint hundreds of stripes may not be as helpful. Before we move on to painting the statements, let's finish the sepal on the flower in the background. We only need to add some texture, so this will be straightforward. Start with burn Ciena, using a six bruh, apply a of tiny marks with the tip of your brush. For the yellow areas used indian yellow. In the darker areas, mix pains gray with burnt sienna to achieve a deeper brown tone. By applying lots of those short brush strokes, we can create an intriguing hairy texture. It actually resembles the fibrous outer layer of a shell. Note that these marks are straight lines, but tiny arc shapes. Finally, use a damp brush to gently wrap the yellowish area to soften the texture slightly. With this, we can complete this section. In the next and final part, we will finish the painting by adding statements. 14. Stamens: Before we remove the masking fluid from the anthers, let's paint the areas around them. Since the anthers are still protected, we can easily paint the remaining parts without worrying about accidentally covering the yellow anthers. Start by applying various colors between the filaments. Use purple to reflect the purple center and in Indian yellow and windsor blue to introduce a green hue. Apply more purple on the left and right sides and blend more yellow and blue in the middle to create a pleasing green. Use a very pale version of this green to paint the main statement. The paint dries quickly because we're using very small amounts of paint, and the technique of painting is wet and dry. This allows us to return to certain areas and adjust their tones and colors very quickly. Focus primarily on the tones, ensuring there is sufficient contrast and that the area is dark enough. Compare it with other dark areas, for instance, if the shadows on the petals are darker, this area might need additional dark tones. Paint the shape running through the middle of the statement with a darker green. Finally mix a bit of Indian yellow with a touch of windsor blue and applied to the tip of the sta to the tone. Repeat the process on the center of the right flower. Start with a pale, muted green, a blend of Indian yellow, and windsor blue, toned down with a touch of burnt sienna. Add more yellow to the tip of the stamen for a war effect. Once we have a solid base of colors, we can start adjusting the tonal values and colors as needed. Paint the round shapes at the tip to create the swirly form. I initially painted between the filaments to define their shape, but we can also add the filaments later using opaque paint once the base is dry. Now, let's let everything dry completely before removing the masking fluid from the an hunters. I'm again using my rubber masking pickup tool. Now we can reveal clean white shapes that we can now color with yellows and browns. But first, let's use a scrubber brush to gently soften the edges of the tiny white shapes we've masked out. Currently, they appear as cut and paste white shapes. Softening the edges will integrate them seamlessly into the petal. If we hadn't masked them, we would likely have painted over these areas and lost the light effect. Alternatively, we can use white opaque paint to paint these shapes. Now it's time to paint the yellow anthers. Use Indian yellow with just a touch of burned Siena to achieve the desired color. The first layer is quite simple. All we need to do is cover everything with this base color. Use more burned Siena on the flower on the left as it is more in shadow and more yellow on the flower on the right. After applying this base color to all the anthers, dry everything with a hair dryer before moving on to the second layer. For the second layer, prepare two shades of brown. One pure burnt sienna for a lighter brown, and a mix of burnt sienna with paints gray, for a darker brown. Begin by applying burnt sienna to each anther, painting shadows while preserving the highlighted areas from the previous layer. The yellow color from the first layer will be visible and it will create highlights, while the burnt sienna will create the shadows. Notice how the anthers begin to take shape. The shadowing adds dimension, making them look like little golden coins. Once you've finished applying burnt sienna, switch to the darkest brown, and add a touch of it where the anthers meet. This will enhance the dimensionality of the anthers. Applying this dark brown will give the anthers a more three dimensional appearance. Notice how a single color creates a flat shape. Adding a second tone introduces some dimension. Making the object look slightly more three dimensional. However, adding the third tone provides even greater depth. Making the anthers appear truly three dimensional. This is why tonal values are so crucial. They help us define the form of an object effectively. Repeat the same process on the anthers of the right flower. Since these anthers are warmer and more exposed to light, mix Indian yellow with burnt sienna to create a lighter warmer brown tone. Finally, apply the dark brown to at depth and make the anters appear three dimensional. With this, your painting is complete. You can now sign it and celebrate your accomplishment. If you like, you can use white guash to paint additional filaments, though I haven't done so because I believe the existing filaments are sufficient. However, if you prefer, you can carefully paint filaments that connect each anther to the center of the flower. Next, remove the masking tape to reveal a clean white border. Later, I will remove the painting from the gator and carefully trim the edges with staples, leaving just a wide border. In the final part of this tutorial, we will summarize what we've learned. 15. Summary: First of all, congratulations on taking up the challenge and painting this beautiful flower. It's certainly not the easiest project, but it's undeniably unique with its fabulous colors. I hope you are thrilled with your result. Let's take a moment to summarize what we've covered in this tutorial. We learned how to adjust the reference to fit our vision, and how to prepare an effective sketch that serves as a solid foundation for our painting. We explored how to use the color wheel and color schemes to our advantage and reaching our painting with harmonious and striking colors. We delved into creating a captivating background with beautiful watercolor textures and added a hairy texture to the plants, bringing them to life. We discovered how masking fluid can help us achieve fine details like the hairs on the plant, adding a realistic touch to our painting. We emphasized the importance of tonal values and how they contribute to the three dimensional look of objects, enhancing the depth and realism of our painting. T hank you so much for joining me on this creative journey. I truly appreciate the time you've dedicated to this tutorial. If you've completed your painting, congratulations. You've done a fantastic job, and I hope you are proud of your work. Thank you very much for watching and happy painting by