This week i wanted to paint rhododendron again, but this time at a diferent stage of blooming !
As you can see in my reference picture above, these flower buds are really light and airy. If i want this king of effect in my watercolor i can either paint everything light with a lot of soft colors or i can go with a very dark background and a strong contrast with the flower. And of course i’ve chose the second option because i love contrast in my paintings !
Without planning it, i found myself starting this painting in a very similar way as the one about cyclamens : A background made with indigo and violet, quite dark. But the diference is in the way i painted the flower buds. In this painting they are very light and soft.
Painting rhododendron buds in video
Supplies :
Brushes : Princeton Neptune nº8, Rosemary & Co Éclipse flat nº6.
Paper : Arches cold pressed 640g/m2.
Colors : Indigo (Isaro), Dark mauve (Isaro), Nickel azo yellow (Daniel Smith), Rose madder lake (Sennelier).
And here you have the finished painting (click to enlarge):
