Some flowers again this week ! Yes it’s winter and i have a lot less inspiration, so i count on my stock of personal pictures to help me. This week, i’ve chosen a picture of frosted flowers.
My reference picture is quite a complicated image with a lot of informations on it. All this informations are not needed to understand it, but you have to identify the one you could remove without damaging the understanding. With this idea in mind i’ve painted a couple of studies. in my first try, i’ve tried to paint as much informations as i can. And the picture at the end is very messy. But i’ve learned something : my background isn’t necessary to understand the picture.
With the things learn in my first experience, i’ve been able to paint a second study. And the picture is already a bit more interesting and a bit easier to read also. The frosted flowers are more recognizable. But when i look at this second study, i can see two points that can be improved. First, the stem of my frosted flowers are not necessary in my picture (in my taste). Without them, you could still understand the picture. Second, the darkest parts of my painting have been painted with neutral tint which “kill” my blues. All the shadows are boring and so flat.
And now it’s time for my third try, the one in video. Maybe the simplification is a bit extreme, but it has the advantage here to bring an atmosphere in my painting. No more background, no more stems, not much more information than just my flowers.
Watercolor frosted flowers in video
Supplies :
Brushes : Escoda Aquario nº18, Escoda Reserva nº6, Raphaël le “803” nº2, tooth brush.
Paper : Saunders Waterford rough
Colors : Cerulean blue (Daniel Smith), Indanthrene blue (Sennelier), Verona gold ochre (Daniel Smith), Rose madder lake (Sennelier), Wax pencil white Neocolor (Caran d’Ache), Acrylique white opaque pen (Posca).
And here you have the finished painting (click to enlarge):
