Iris is a very elegant and gracious flower… It’s not as difficult as roses, peonies, hydrangeas to paint, but you have to paint the right details at the right places !
I’ve painted the same subject in june of 2018 (first picture above) and i have to say that this painting is quite a success ! I remember understanding a lot about watercolor with this particular painting and i think that it represent a breakthrough for my practice. So two years later, i try to paint the same subject with the reference picture you can see above (middle). The composition is a bit more complicated as the flowers are overlapping a lot. But trying to sketch them with gouache (right picture) before painting with watercolor did help me a lot.
If i’m comparing the two years old painting with this week’s painting, i can say that i improve myself a lot with background and linking the background with the first ground. But i still prefere the fragility in the petals of the older version !
Painting irises in video
Supplies :
Brushes : Escoda Último nº18, Rosemary & Co serie 39 1/2″.
Paper : Arches rough.
Colors : Ultramarine blue (Sennelier), Amazonite genuine (Daniel Smith), Nickel azo yellow (Daniel Smith), Rose madder lake (Sennelier), Wisteria(Daniel Smith).
And here you have the finished painting (Click to enlarge) :
