Kelli Roos

Illustration and Art Instruction - Let's have fun with art!

Paint Along Again!

Thank you for joining me for this lesson. Below is a list of supplies and instruction walking you through recreating this lesson.

[insert final painting]

Supplies

Paper:

  • 8″ x 10″ or 9″ x 12″ watercolor paper, 140 lb. preferred
  • A scrap piece of paper for color and stroke testing

Additional Supplies:

  • Pencil, #2 is good
  • Art Line Art ( click to download and print )

Brush:

  • #4 Round, #6 or #8 Round would also work

Paints:

  • New Gamboge
  • Cadmium Orange (or another bright orange)
  • Permanent Rose
  • Dioxazine Purple
  • Cobalt Turquoise Hue
  • Phthalo Blue

Any brand of student paint is OK, in my examples I use Winsor & Newton Cotman.

Painting Accessories:

  • Surface to mix paint – a plastic palette or an old dinner plate works!
  • Cup of clean water in a clear container ( I like old peanut butter jars )
  • Paper towel, or old rag

Demonstration Video

[coming soon]

Trace line art onto watercolor paper

  1. Print out the line art. Place on a window or light table and trace the design onto the watercolor paper.

Prepare painting area

  1. Have paper with line art, paints, palette, brush, scrap paper, paper towel and fresh water. on your painting hand side. (I put mine on the left because I paint with my left hand).
  2. Squeeze your tube paints onto the palette, or if using pans, wet each pan with a few brushes of water and let sit for a minute or so.

Step 1 – Sky Technique

  1. Wet your brush with your water, then take a dab of Dioxazine Purple and spread it out in a small puddle on your palette.
  2. Keep adding water to this puddle, (I usually add 10-20 drops of water with my brush) and once you have some amount of paint and water is mixed up, swirl your brush in the puddle, and wick your brush on the edge of your plate, palette, or dab on your towel. You do not want the brush dripping, you want it not visibly full of water.
  3. Do a test paint stroke on your scrap paper. We want a light color.
  4. If your color is too light, add more paint to your puddle and mix. If your color is too dark, add more water to your puddle and mix.
  5. Continue adjusting until your get something close to my sample.
  6. If there is standing water, use a paper towel or rag to dab up the excess water.

Step 2 – Water Technique

  1. Select the desired petal and wet the paper with the water. Make sure you wet the paper all the way to the line.
  2. If there is standing water, use a paper towel or rag to dab up the excess water. The petal should be a satiny or shiny look.
  3. Load your brush with the lighter Dioxazine Purple. Wick the brush to make sure it is not too much paint on the brush. Across the outer edge of the petal, drag your brush so the soft lavendar flows into the petal.
  4. Load your brush with the darker Dioxazine Purple, and touch it on the edge of the petal too. It should not run into the petal as far, making a gradual gradient from purple to white.
  5. Repeat this on all the petals you want this look.

Step 3 – Rocky Ground

  1. Mix a batch of Dioxazine Purple paint with water. I would use a nice amount of water, 5-10 drops, and make it a little darker than the previous purple mix.
  2. Load your brush with the new Dioxazine Purple mix. Wick the brush to make sure it is not too much paint on the brush. Fill in the entire petal, covering the entire area. Try not to have standing water.
  3. Load your brush with straight Dioxazine Purple paint. Make sure there isn’t a blob on your brush, just a small amount.Touch it on the edges of the petals. Don’t cover the entire petal, somewhere between 20–50% of the petal area (it depends on petal size).
  4. Repeat this on all the petals you want this look. Be sure to paint the one petal bulb as well.

All the items we paint will follow the technique in the purple petal steps above, just different shapes and different colors.

Step 4 – Palm Tree

  1. Mix some New Gamboge (your yellow) paint with water. I would use a nice amount of water, 8-10 drops, to get a light, bright yellow.
  2. Load your brush with the yellow paint. Wick the brush to make sure it is not too much paint on the brush. Fill the 3 petals covering the entire area. Try not to have standing water.
  3. Make sure your brush is still loaded with yellow paint and wicked (not dripping with paint), and paint the centers of the purple gradient petals. Paint in small strokes that follow the curve of the petal. Don’t try to fill it in, it is OK to leave some white.

Pansy Petal Technique – painting light leaves

  1. Add a lot of water to your palette, like 15-20 drops of water. Add some New Gamboge to the water. Then slowly add some Sap Green. We want a greenish-yellow.
  2. Load your brush with the new Sap Green / New Gamboge mix. Fill in the entire leaf, covering the entire area. Try not to have standing water.
  3. Load your brush with straight Sap Green paint. Make sure there isn’t a blob on your brush, just a small amount.Touch it on certain parts of the leaf that make sense to be a little darker. Don’t cover the entire leaf, somewhere around 30% of the leaf area (it depends on leaf size).
  4. Paint all desired leaves this color until done.

Pansy Petal Technique – painting dark leaves

  1. Add a lot of water to your palette, like 15-20 drops of water. Add some Ultramarine Blue to the water. Then slowly add some Sap Green. We want a greenish-blue.
  2. Load your brush with the new mix. Wick the brush to make sure it is not too much paint on the brush. Fill in the entire petal, covering the entire area. Try not to have standing water.
  3. Load your brush with straight Ultramarine Blue paint. Make sure there isn’t a blob on your brush, just a small amount. Touch it on the edges of the leaf. Don’t cover the entire leaf somewhere around 30% of the petal area (it depends on leaf size).
  4. Paint all desired leaves this color until done.