WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP: Painting Bearded Irises

Drawing and painting purple irises can be a challenge!  It is also a great opportunity to draw these intricate, undulating shapes, and to create some beautiful violets and purples, through mixing and mingling on the paper.  We will use a range of colors to get both cool and warm temperatures, so that these irises will glow with warmth.

For this project, you'll need the following watercolor pigments (or something close to it):

Quinacridone Rose (or Permanent), Quinacridone Magenta (or Permanent), French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange (or Burnt Sienna), Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson, New Gamboge, and Aureolin Yellow (or Hansa Yellow).

You'll also need some salt, and some alcohol (the rubbing kind) in a little bottle with a dropper -- for texture.

1.  Start with a pencil drawing, on the white watercolor paper, which has been mounted on a board.

Finish your drawing by adding long narrow leaves in the background.  Be sure to take them off the edge of your paper, so as to divide the negative space into interesting shapes.

2.  Prepare a gold wash for the background.  Mix Quinacridone Gold with Yellow (New Gamboge).  Mix up enough water and paint together to cover the entire background.  Since you will be painting this onto dry paper, you need more water than usual.  Have a dropper-bottle of rubbing alcohol on hand.

3.  Paint this gold wash over the background.  Paint the wash onto dry paper, painting around the iris blossoms, but over the leaves and stems of the flowers.  Have your board at a slight angle when you paint, so that you have a "bead" at the bottom of the wash.  When you pick up more gold from your palette, you will pick up the "bead" where you left off, and paint downward from there.  Don't go back into what you've just painted.

Continue painting this gold wash until you come to a stopping point, at the bottom.  Then, lay the board flat, and add a few drops of alcohol to this wash.  

Finish painting the rest of the background with this gold wash.  Then, lat it flat again and drop in a little of the alcohol drops.  Let this dry completely.

(There's no right or wrong way to add these drops.  Don't worry if it doesn't look exactly like this -- we're just adding a little "texture" to the background.)

4.  Paint the Yellow "Beards".  Clean off the gold wash from your palette.  Then, prep two Yellows -- like Aureolin Yellow and New Gamboge.  You won't need much.

Paint the "beards" with these yellows.  You can also paint a little of the yellow onto the middle veins of a few of the petals.

5.  Prep 3 pigments for the purple iris petals.  Clean off the yellow from the inside area of your palette.  Now, prep 3 pigments -- French Ultramarine, Quinacridone Rose, and Quinacridone Magenta.

6.  Paint each petal with these three colors.  Working wet-in-wet, start with the Rose, then switch to the Magenta.

Finish off the petal with the Blue.

While the petal is still wet, turn your board upside down, touch your brush to the blue, and "pull down" a few strokes of the blue, into the pink.  Don't "fuss" too much.  Then, move on to the next petal.  

Painting in this manner, move from petal to petal, but painting every other one -- so that you don't get in trouble by painting right next to a petal that's still wet.  Change it a little on the bottom petals, the "falls", by touching some rose to the bottom lacy edge at the end.

Now, move to the bottom flower.  Try something a little different with some of these petals, using the same three colors.  Wet half of the petal with clear water, then touch the frilly edge with the Rose, all the way around the edge.  Then touch the other edge with the Magenta, leaving the middle unpainted.  Then, paint a few strokes of the Blue.

Continue painting every other petal this way, mingling the colors in different ways.

Go back up to the top flower, and finish painting the petals.  Then, do the same with the bottom flower.

7.  Paint the background leaves.  Clean off the inside area of the palette, and then prep three Greens -- 1) Sap Green, 2) Sap Green + Cobalt Blue, and 3) Cobalt Blue + Aureolin Yellow.

Use these greens, wet in wet, to paint the background leaves . . . 

8.  Paint the stems.  Prep two Greens -- Sap Green, and Sap Green + Yellow; and prep a Quinacridone Burnt Orange (or Burnt Sienna).

Use these warm colors to paint the stems and the buds.

9.  Paint another layer of Gold in the background.  Clean off the palette, and then prepare another Quinacridone Gold wash.  Once again, you'll be painting wet on dry, so be sure to mix enough paint/water.  This time, you will paint only the negative background shapes -- NOT the leaves.  After painting each background shape, sprinkle it with salt.

Let this dry completely, and then brush off the salt.

10.  Mix up some deep Purples and a Blue.  Clear off the gold wash from your palette, and then prep three dark colors -- 1) French Ultramarine, 2) Quinacridone Magenta + French Ultramarine, and 3) Alizarin Crimson + French Ultramarine.  

11.  Darken the petals.  Strengthen and deepen the colors of each petal, without becoming too opaque -- you want some of the original colors to show through.  You can leave some of the upper petals as is, except for the base of each petal, which you can darken.

You can see how you don't darken every part of each petal, and that the bottom "falls" are generally darker than the upper petals.  

If you find that you've gotten too opaque, or that you want to lighten an area, lift out some highlights with a damp brush.

12.  Add more green to the leaves and stems.  Mix up two more greens -- Sap Green, and Sap Green + Cobalt Blue.

Paint all the leaves and stems again with these two Greens and plenty of water, to strengthen the colors, but still keep it transparent.

You can also add a few darker colors to the tan parts of the stems, using a mix of Burnt Orange + Magenta.

If you like, you can stop your painting right now, and call it done.  Or, you can proceed to finish as I did, with these last two steps.  

13.  Paint a Burnt Orange glaze over the background shapes.  This will tone down the texture a bit.  If you like your gold background with the texture, don't do this step.

14.  Paint a few dark greens on the leaves and stems.  Mix up a dark green (Sap Green + French Ultramarine).  Darken a few areas of the leaves and stems with this green.

And, you're finished!  Be sure to sign it.

WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP: Negative Painting of Aspen Leaves

In this negative painting project, you'll be painting layers of transparent color to create depth and dimension.

You will be adding one layer of leaves and branches behind another layer.  Each layer of negative painting will take you further into the background, behind the first foreground leaves and branches.  

In negative painting, you do not paint the subject itself -- at least, not directly.  The positive shapes are drawn -- in stages.  You will paint the negative shapes, which are the shapes around, between, and behind the leaves, stems, and branches.

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If you'd rather download a PDF of this Tutorial, for $6, click here.  

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For this project, you'll need a piece of watercolor paper (about 7" x 9"), mounted on a board; a pencil for drawing; various sizes of round brushes (#2, #4, #6), and a flat brush for wetting your paper.  You'll start with a secondary triad of colors -- Sap Green, Quinacridone Gold, and Quinacridone Magenta.  And, you'll be adding some blue (French Ultramarine) later in the project.

1.  Begin your painting with a wet-in-wet underpainting.  Prep the 3 colors first on your palette -- bring each of the colors into the middle and add a little water to it.  Then, wet the entire paper with clear water.  Make sure that it is evenly wet.  Add the three colors to the paper, so that they mingle a little on the paper.  Add the magenta to the bottom left, the gold to the top and diagonally down the middle, and the green to the right side.  Let this settle for a few minutes, and then spatter those same three colors onto the underpainting.  Let this dry completely, while lying flat. . . 

2.  In pencil, draw a few skinny branches, with stems and heart-shaped aspen leaves attached.  This will be your foreground . . . 

3.  Paint the negative shapes with transparent color.  Use the same colors, but mix with a little more water, because you'll be painting the negative shapes, wet-on-dry.  And, use the underpainting color to guide you, as to what color to paint on top.  Paint a gold wash on top of the gold shapes . . . 

When you come to a shape that is two colors, like gold and green -- Start painting the gold, and then transition to the green. . . 

Then, finish painting the shape with the green wash. . . 

On some of the negative shapes, you'll start with the gold and then transition into the magenta wash . . . 

No need to go very dark with this layer -- it just needs to be a little darker value than the first layer.  And, stay transparent (by having enough water).  You want to alter the color below it, not totally cover it up.  This will be true for each subsequent layer.  Continue this way until all the negative shapes are painted with the appropriate washes of color . . . 

4.  Draw more skinny branches, stems, and leaves behind the 1st layer.  Start by drawing three meandering lines, to indicate branches.  Then add a few stems coming off the branches, and draw heart-shaped leaves at the end of the stems, underlapping the foreground shapes.

5.  Mix up two new colors, using the three colors that are in the middle of your palette now.  Mix the Sap Green + Quinacridone Gold, to get a warmer, darker green.  Mix the Quinacridone Magenta (or Permanent Magenta) + Quinacridone Gold to get an orange mixture.

6.  Paint the negative shapes with these two colors.  With the green wash, paint a transparent layer on the shapes that are already green, and on half the gold shapes. . . 

On those shapes that are part green and part magenta, start with one color and transition to the other.  . . 

Continue painting the negative shapes.  Paint the orange wash over the magenta shapes, as well as over the other half of the gold shapes.  

Continue in this way until all the negative shapes have been painted . . . 

7.  Draw some more branches, stems, and leaves.  Once again, I find it helpful to draw the skinny branches first, behind the existing ones.  Then, draw the stems in various places; and then, draw the leaves at the end of the stems.  Make sure to underlap these shapes, rather than try to squeeze the leaf shapes within the negative shapes.

8.  Mix two new "cooler" colors.  Clean off the middle of the palette.  Now mix two new colors, using the green and the magenta, but cooling them down a bit with a little blue.  Mix Sap Green + French Ultramarine, to get a cool green.  Mix Quinacridone Magenta + French Ultramarine, to get a red-violet.  

9.  Paint the negative shapes with these two colors.  Be sure to switch to a little brush, like a #2 round, to paint the smallest negative shapes.  You're not painting any detail at all, inside the leaves, but with each layer, the negative shapes will get smaller, so you need to adjust the size of the brush you use, accordingly.  

Use the red-violet mixture to paint half the negative shapes.  Paint the other half with the blue-green mixture.  Remember to paint only the NEGATIVE SHAPES around the leaves and branches, not the leaves themselves.  That's how you achieve the feeling of depth.

10.  Draw your last layer of branches, stems, and leaves.  If it's hard to see what you're drawing, you can use a colored pencil.

11.  Mix up a blue wash for the final layer.  Clean off the middle of your palette, and then mix up a wash of French Ultramarine.  

12.  Paint the negative shapes that you've just created, using this blue wash.  To finish this painting, this blue wash is painted over all the new negative shapes -- which darkens this last layer and creates even more depth in your painting.  Be sure to use a small round brush, that comes to a nice point, in order to better paint these little shapes.

If you'd rather print out this tutorial, you can download the pdf, for $6, by clicking here.  

That way, you will have one step and one image on each page, so it's easier to paint along with.

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You can also get three tutorials, for $15, HERE.

The three Negative Painting Tutorials are:  1) Trees, 2) Aspen Leaves, & 3) Zinnia.

WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP: Butterfly Batik

Who doesn't love butterflies?  And, their shapes and designs lend themselves to this batik method of painting.  The technique/process used in this project is similar to traditional batik.  But, instead of fabric, wax, and dye, we will be using paper, masking fluid, and watercolors.  

For this project, you'll need a prepared sheet of watercolor paper, approximately 6" x 15" (a long and skinny format).  Also have on hand -- masking fluid and quill pen (or something similar), salt, and a rubber square eraser.  The watercolor pigments we will use -- Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson, and Thalo Blue.  And, at the end, we will use a little Cadmium Red and Cerulean Blue (for spattering).

Prep 4 colors on your palette for your wet-in-wet underpainting -- the Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson, and Thalo Blue (or something similar). . . 

Spray the paper with clear water.  Starting at the top left corner, paint the Quin Gold, in a diagonal way, approximately 1/4 down the paper.  While that is still wet, start painting the Quin Burnt Orange, overlapping the Gold.  Paint that in a diagonal way, to about halfway down the paper.  If it starts to dry, mist with clear water, so the paint moves and mingles. . . 

Now, start painting with the Alizarin Crimson, overlapping the Burnt Orange, to about 3/4 of the way down.  Then, finish with the Thalo Blue.  

Hold the board on end, over your palette, so the excess paint/water drips off the bottom. . . 

Lay the paper flat, and spatter those 4 colors onto the wet paint.  Wait until there is a shine to the paper, but no big puddles -- and sprinkle salt all over.  (There's no right or wrong way to do this.  Your paper will be drying at different rates.  If it's too wet in parts, the salt just dissolves.  If it's too dry in parts, the salt will do nothing.  We're just trying to add some texture to this underpainting . . . )

While this is drying, find some references for your butterflies, or you can use this Plate . . . 

When your paper is completely dry, brush off all the salt.

Pick out three butterfly references, and draw them onto your paper.  (If you don't have the time or patience, you can always just draw one butterfly.)  

  

When I use masking, I thin it a little with water, putting it into a tiny container.  And, I apply it with a quill pen with a metal nib.  This cleans up easily.

We'll be doing 3 stages of Masking and Painting, before we're finished.  This is a way of negative painting, but, we're blocking out the positive shapes, in stages, and painting the negative areas.  The masking takes a little care, but the painting is easy -- you don't have to paint around the positive shapes.

1st Masking/Painting Stage -- apply the masking fluid to the lightest shapes in the wings.  

Top Butterfly --

Middle Butterfly --

Bottom Butterfly --

When you have masked all the lightest areas in all the butterflies, let it dry completely before painting.  

Remove the Quinacridone Gold from the middle of the palette.  Just use the Burnt Orange, the Alizarin Crimson, and the Thalo Blue, for this painting stage.  

After the masking is totally dry, mist the painting with clear water, and paint those three colors, in the same diagonal manner as before, starting with the Burnt Orange in the upper left corner, then the Alizarin Crimson in the middle, and finishing with the Blue to the bottom.

We WILL NOT be adding any salt at this stage, but you can still get some texture by spattering those 3 colors onto the wet paint.  Also, when the paint starts to dry, you can spray it with a fine mister, to get some additional texture.  Lay flat, and let it dry. . . 

2nd Masking/Painting Stage -- When the paint is completely dry, it's time to add your second round of masking.  Remember, you don't remove any of the masking until the very end.

Top Butterfly --

Middle Butterfly --

Bottom Butterfly -- 

You can't tell from these pictures, but I also masked out the antennae of each of the butterflies at this stage.

After the masking is completely dry, use the same 3 colors you used before, and paint them in the same order.  Once again, spatter some of the paint onto the wet paint, and let everything dry.  

If possible, try not to use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process -- it makes it harder to remove the masking at the end.

Final Masking/Painting Stage -- At this stage, you will mask out the rest of the shapes of the butterflies. Leave some of the lines unmasked, as well as some of the shapes that you want to be dark.

Top Butterfly - 

Middle Butterfly -

Bottom Butterfly - 

Be sure to let the masking fluid dry really well before painting.

At this stage of the painting process, we will use just the Alizarin Crimson and the Thalo Blue.  So, spritz your paper, and then paint the Alizarin in the top half and the Blue in the bottom half.

Turn your paper upside down, to mingle the colors better . . . 

Now, we'll add some more texture, since we won't be masking anymore.  Sprinkle some salt all over, after it has dried to a sheen.  Then, spatter your painting, this time with Cadmium or Winsor Red, and with Cerulean Blue.  These colors will sit on top of the darker colors and won't spread.  

I know it's hard to tell what your painting is going to look like, at this point.

Mix together the Alizarin Crimson and the Thalo Blue.  With this dark color, brush it onto some of the parts of the butterflies' wings.  I realize you will be painting right on top of the salt.  Just do your best to drop in some of that dark color, and then lay it flat to dry . . . 

Now, it's time for the Big Reveal!

Using either your thumb or a square crepe rubber "eraser", begin to remove the masking fluid and the salt.  Rub as much of the salt with your hand first, and then tackle the removal of the masking.  Where the salt and masking fluid have dried together, it might be particularly stubborn -- use your fingernail if you need to, to scrape off the salt.  

And, voila' -- your Butterfly Batik!  

At this point, you can call it good, sign it, and you're done.  Or, like me, there might be a few little things that you'd like to adjust.

I glazed over the bodies of two of the butterflies, to darken them a little.  That made me happier. . . 

I hope you're happy with your results.  I know the masking can be a bit tedious, but the effect you get is usually worth it.  

Here's one of my large paintings, where I used the same batik method --