Transcripts
1. Welcome To The Class: Hi everyone, Welcome
to this class. My name is Lisa and I'm a watercolor artist
based in Malaysia. I started watercolors
seven years ago and florals are one of my
favorite subjects to paint. In this class, I'm going
to show you how to paint watercolor florals in a
loose and expressive style. I'll begin the class by showing you the
materials that you need. I'll also walk you through the basic watercolor techniques that we'll be using
in our paintings. We'll then move on to our class projects where
you learn how to paint an iris flower and Hibiscus in a loose
and expressive style. I'll guide you through the
entire process and I'll also share with you some tips for creating a good
floral composition. By the end of this class, you'll be able to apply
all that you've learned in creating your own loose and
expressive floral paintings. This class is suitable
for all levels, so grab your brushes
and let's get started.
2. Materials Needed For This Class: All right, let's go over the supplies that we
need for this class. Let's start with the paper. I'll be using this Bao Hong
Academy watercolor paper. It is 100% cotton, co pressed paper in 300 GSM. Now you can use any other
brands of watercolor paper, but I highly recommend that you use one which is 100% cotton. Now this is because we're going to use the wet on wet technique. And 100% cotton paper
allows our paper to stay wet a bit longer so that we have more time to
drop in the colors. All right, now let's
move on to the brushes. All right, so I have
a size six and size eight round brushes from
silver black velvet. I also have a size six
synthetic round brush from Escoda Pla. For final details, I'll be using this Chinese
calligraphy brush. If you don't have this brush, you can use a liner brush
or a small round brush. You will also need a plate or
palette to mix your colors. Some paper towels to
remove excess moisture from your brush and two
jars of clean water. All right, so these
are the colors that I'll be using
in a class project. Now, if you don't have
any of these colors, just use any similar
colors from your palette.
3. Watercolor Techniques: All right. Let's
quickly go through the watercolor techniques that we'll be using in this class. Now, if you're new to my
class and if you would like a more in depth lesson
on watercolor techniques, I encourage you to
check out my class, the nine day Watercolor
Floral Challenge. There's a lesson on
watercolor techniques and pain consistencies
which you may find helpful. All right, let's start
with the first technique, which is the wet
on wet technique. This is applying wet
pain on a wet surface. I'll start by wetting this fragment with
some yellow paint. Make sure that it's evenly
wet so that there's a nice sheen on the paper and there should not
be any water puddles. All right, now I'm going
to drop in some orange. You can see that the color
has started to spread. Next, I'm going to drop in a thicker consistency of orange. This mixture has less water and more pigments than
the previous mixture. When I drop this on the paper, it doesn't spread as much. You can see that this has a more control
spread. All right? The thicker the
pain consistency, the less it will spread. Now let me show you how to apply this technique in your
floral paintings. I'll paint a simple flower and I'll make sure
that the petals are evenly wet so that
there are no dry areas. Now let's drop in some orange on the center and on the edges. All right, now let's
drop in another color. This time I'll use red and
I'll add less water to this red mixture so that it has a thicker consistency
than the orange mix. And we'll also drop this on
the edges and on the center. Now, because this
red mixture has a thicker consistency
than the orange mix, it doesn't spread as much
as the orange mixture. We are still able to see
the orange fragment. Keep this in mind when
you're painting a flowers, if you don't want your
pain to spread too much, just use a thicker mix
of paint, all right? The next technique is
the pulling technique. All right? The next technique
is the pulling technique. Now, because this red
pain is still wet, I'm going to use the end
of my brush to pull out the red pigments to
create some thin lines. We can use this technique to create delicate
veins in our petals. Now, we are only able to do this as long as the
pain is still wet. If the pain has started to dry, just drop in a bit more paint before you pull
out the pigments. Okay, now let's move on
to the next technique, which is the dry
brush technique. Now this technique creates some interesting
textures on the paper. For this technique to work, we must use a creamy to
fit consistency of paint. And also make sure to remove excess moisture from your brush before you pick up your paint. Now you can see that there are white specks of unpainted areas. This is because of
the textured surface of our compressed paper. Now we can use this
technique to create some interesting textures and highlights in our
leaves and grass. This is a great technique to use when we want to add
interest to our painting. Now, if your mixture
is too watery, this technique will not work. If your mixture is
a bit too watery, what you can do is remove excess pain on the paper towel
before you begin painting. Okay. Before you begin
your class project, do practice and experiment with different pain consistencies so that you know which
one works best.
4. Hibiscus: For our first project, we are going to paint
this lovely composition of hibiscus flowers. I'll start with John Brilliant. Now, this will be the base color for our hibiscus flowers. Our hibiscus petals have
slightly ruffled edges. I'm going to make the edges
of my petals a bit irregular. I'm just combining
my brush strokes to form five large petals
for the Hibiscus. Now in my previous
class on painting loose and expressive
roses and peonies, I showed you how to
use your brush to create a variety of
expressive brush jokes. Now we'll be applying
those brush jokes in this. Do check out that if
you haven't done so. Now we'll leave an
empty space here for our center and we'll
come back in later on, once we're finished
painting our petals, I'll add another coat
of paint to make sure these petals stay
wet a bit longer. Because in the next step, we are going to use the wet on wet technique to create some color variation
in our petals. Make sure there are
no dry spots on your petals before you
move on to the next step. All right, now let's drop
in a bit of Quinacridone rose on the edges and
also on the center. And let it blend softly
with our base color. As you can see, I'm just gently tapping in the color with
the tip of my brush. I still want the base
layer to be visible. Now, feel free to switch to a smaller brush for
better pain control. I'm working fairly
quickly because I want to drop in a second color
before the pain dries out. All right, now let's
tap in the bit of find it on the center and
also on the edges. Next I'll pull out
some veins from the center while the
pain is still wet. Now if you find that the
veins are a bit too faint, just drop in a bit more paint. Okay, next I'll paint some
shadow lines on the petals. Now to add more contrast, I'll darken the areas around the center with a
thicker mix of violet. All right, now let's fill
in the center with a bit of yellow followed by
some burnt sienna. All right, now let's paint some leaves around our Hibiscus. You can vary the color of your leaves to make
it look more organic. Let's attach a flower
bud to this stem. I'll start with John brilliant mixed with a bit of
quinagridone rose. Then I'll drop in a
thicker mix of quinagudone rose and attach some
sepples at the base. All right, let's continue
painting some leaves around our flower to add interest
to the composition, I'll use different
shades of green. If I want to create some
color variation in the leaf, I'll drop in a darker green while the base
layer is still wet. Now to add interest
to the composition, I'm going to pin the
side hibiscus here, which is partially open, because in order to create
a good floral composition, we should include
different stages of the flower in our composition. We have a flower bud, a side hibiscus, which
is partially open. A front facing hibiscus
which has fully bloomed. While this layer is still, I'm going to drop in some
Quinacudone rose and violet to create some
color variation. As long as a pin is still wet, we can keep adding
in colors or lift up any excess colors until we're
satisfied with the outcome. All right, now let's pin some sepples and attach
a leaf to the stem. Okay, now I'm going to
pin some leaves and stems sticking out just to
fill in the empty spaces. All right, now that our first Hibiscus has completely dry, let's go back in to
pin in the pistol and enter our stop burnt sienna. And for the enders I'll use the yellow ocher and darken it with a bit of Quinacodon rose to
make it more visible. Now to add dimension
to our hibiscus, I'll darken the
center of the flower, where the pistol originates. And for the final details I'll delicate veins following the
curvature of the petals. I'm using a watery
mix of violet. All right, so I hope
you enjoy painting this and I look forward to
seeing your class projects.
5. Iris: All right, for our
second class project, we are going to paint
this lovely iris. I'll be using lavender
as a base color. Now, if you don't have lavender, you can use any blue. Just prepare a very diluted
and watery mix of blue. I'm going to start with
the upright petal. Now the upright petals are usually broader than the
drooping outer petals. Here, I'm just combining my brush strokes to
create a broad petal. I'm creating ruffle
edges for this petal. And as you can see, I'm leaving a bit of white
space so that this doesn't look like a block
of paint. All right. Now, while the
pain is still wet, I'll drop in some ultramarine on the edges and let it blend
with the base color. Now I still want my base
color to be visible. I'm using the tip of my brush
to gently tap in the color. Feel free to switch
to a smaller brush, as that will give you
better pain control. Next, I'll drop in
a bit of violet. Again, I'll let this bleed and blend with the
previous colors. Now we have this lovely mix
of colors in our petal. Make sure to preserve
those white spaces so that your petal doesn't
look like a block of color. All right, now let's paint
the drooping outer petals. I'm going to start with
the one on the left. These outer petals are narrower in size than
the upright petals. Again, I'm starting with my base color, which is lavender. I'm going to leave a bit of white space in the middle here, which I will be filling
it with yellow later on. While this is still wet, I'm going to drop in
my ultramarine and violet to create a bit of
color variation in the petal. Now let's move on to
the one on the right. And I'll repeat
the same process. I'll make this petal a bit larger than
the one on the left, because I don't want
these two petals to look symmetrical. Otherwise they will
not look natural. Again, I'm leaving a bit of
white space in the middle. I'll use the end of my brush
to draw out some veins. At this stage, the pain
has dried up quite a bit, so I'm only able to get
some very faint veins. So I'll just dip
the end of my brush into my pin mixture to
draw out some veins. Okay, now let's fill in those white spaces
with some yellow. I'll start with
permanent yellow deep followed by a bit
of lemon yellow. All right, now let's pin
the sapple and stand. And I'll add a bit of shadow on the left so it doesn't
look too flat. Next, I'll pin some
butts on the stem. Let's place our first. But here I'll start
with a watery mix of violet and then I'll tap
in a bit of ultramarine. All right, now let's place the second butt on
the lower right. I'll make this a bit larger. Again, I'm starting with my violet mix and then
dropping in some ultramarine. All right, now let's pin
another upright petal. This petal is partially hidden
behind our first petal. I'll leave a bit of
gap to separate them. I'm starting lavender and then dropping in some
ultramarine and violet. Now, as long as the
pin is still wet, I can continue to drop
in colors or to lift out any excess colors if I find them a bit too
dark or intense. Once I'm satisfied
with the outcome, I'll use the end of
my brush to pull out some veins while
the pain is still wet. To add interest to
the composition, I'm going to paint another
butt behind our iris. I'm using back the same colors. Now let's add some
sales at the base. I'll drop in a bit more
violet to create some volume. Then I'll add some
shadows on the stem. All right, I'm going
to paint some grass at the bottom to make
this composition look a bit more interesting. I'll create textures in the grass by using the
dry brush technique. I'm varying the length
of the grass now. You can use different
shades of green here to make it look a
bit more interesting. All right, now let's go back to our iris and paint
in some veins. All right, now let's add some
final details on our iris. I'll paint some delicate veins using a watery mix of violet. And then I'll add some lemon
yellow on the outer petals. All right, I hope you
enjoy painting this now. Don't forget to upload your class projects so that I
can give you some feedback.
6. Final Thoughts: Congratulations on
completing the class. I hope you've enjoyed this class and that you've
learned something new. I look forward to
seeing your paintings. Please upload them in the project gallery so that I
can give you some feedback. If you have any questions, just post them in the discussion section and I'll
get back to you. Now if you find
this class helpful, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a
review for this class. Thank you for taking this class. I hope to see you in my
next Skillshare class.
Lisa Lam, Watercolor Artist
