Watercolor is one of the most difficult techniques in painting.
When portraying flowers, the artist must be attentive to their details. Petals, stems and other parts must be connected, it is important to understand how this flower grows. Without understanding, the picture cannot be whole. The best option is to imagine the nature through and through. So it’s easier to draw the constituent parts of the plant. In this article you will read about how to draw flowers in watercolor.
Subtleties of technology
Watercolor is different from all possible materials for painting. This paint is intended for easy, "air" drawing. Drawings should not be too bright. To "hammer" a watercolor, painting her thickly, as if with gouache or oil, is by no means impossible. Be sure somewhere in the picture the color of the paper should be visible. This is considered an indicator of excellence. Drawing with watercolors does not imply elaboration of details. More important is the task of conveying the shape of objects, in this case peonies. Watercolor can be combined with other techniques. For example, when the work dries, some small details can be drawn with a pen on top of the paint. It is very well absorbed, and it will not be difficult.
Materials for work
If you want to write a decent job, then the approach to drawing should be serious. This means that you need to prepare everything you need. A large amount of water is used to work with watercolor paints . You can pour it into a glass or any other vessel.
Watercolor paper needs special. Since this paint is necessarily mixed with water, the sheets should be dense. To do this, there is a special watercolor paper with a rough surface on one side and smooth on the other. You need to draw on the rough side.
Watercolor brushes are also special. Natural, squirrel are best suited. If there is no way to find such, synthetics are also suitable.
Beginning of work
It is necessary to determine what will be the main thing in the composition. If there are a lot of colors, drawing them all in detail does not make sense. It will take a lot of time and effort, and in the end will bring down the impression of the picture. It is better to focus on a particular flower and draw it as detailed as possible.
The first step is to draw a background. These should be the pale colors that are surrounded by flowers. Do not paint over areas where peonies will be. Watercolors cannot overlap any color absolutely purely. Due to the fact that the paint is liquid, the colors mix or overlap when overlapping. Therefore, it is better to make as few mistakes as possible by painting peonies with watercolors. Gradually fill in the sections of the sheet with different color spots. Be attentive to nature. Use more shades, they can be obtained by mixing the primary colors from the box on a special palette (paper or plastic).
The next step in deciding how to draw a peony with watercolors is to outline the main, foreground. Designate with a color spot the vase in which the peonies stand, and the stems that stand in it. Make elongated, narrow brush strokes from the shape of the petals. Do not immediately take a lot of color on the brush, limit yourself to pale strokes. If everything is done correctly, proceed to the next flower.
Drawing the main elements
The flowers that are closest to you should be bright. And those behind them, let them remain pale. The main thing is to make the viewer understand that in a vase there are not several flowers, but a bouquet of peonies. The thicker the bouquet - the more pleasant it is to look at the picture.
Do not forget about the shadows on the flowers. The darkest areas must be highlighted by drawing peonies in watercolor. You can get the color of the shadow by mixing pink with dark brown or dark blue. It is better not to use black for shadow, it will create the effect of dirty colors.
When working on nearby flowers, you should not wait until the pale strokes dry. Taking bright paint on the brush, just hold it on the petal. Paint beautifully spreads on the wet track from the previous stage.
Completion of the picture
When accents on the main peonies are added, you should take care of the greenery. You can add bright colors to some leaves or stems. This will give the painting a summer richness and freshness.
A good welcome when painting flowers with watercolors is to add shades from the surroundings to the leaves and some petals. This is called a “reflex” and helps to combine the background with the objects of composition.
Another good move is to darken the edges of the picture. You can do this by taking on the brush a color darker than the one with which you painted the background. It is necessary to smear the paint with water so smoothly that the contrast of light and dark is not so noticeable. If you put a picture in a frame, it will look more presentable than without it.