This week i wanted to paint some of the bouquet you can see below, the tulips especially !
Tulips are a subject i’ve tried some time ago and i found it very hard. it’s a very simple flower but yet very specific. There is some stiffness in the stem, in the way the flower hang, in the petals. So i need to be able to paint those caracteristics but with the fluidity of watercolor.
My first layer has been decisive for the success of this painting. I’ve started in a very stiff way by painting the shape of the flower with quite a dense colors. And then i blur almost everything with water to get that fluidity. And even if the image is blurry at the end of the first layer you can still see the flower and they are ready for more details in the second layer !
Painting tulips in watercolor
Supplies :
Brushes : Princeton Neptune nº8, Raphaël petit gris 903 nº12, Léonard 972 PS Aquarellys.
Paper : Arches hot pressed 640g/m2.
Colors : Ultramarine blue (Sennelier), Nickel azo yellow (Daniel Smith), Indian yellow (Isaro), Rose madder lake (Sennelier).
And here you have the finished painting (click to enlarge) :
