Let's Draw Some Flowers

Let's talk flowers. Hahaha! Specifically let's talk drawing up a few of them. At first glance this page may seem a little daunting if you have not done anything like it before. But believe me when I say you can create this, too - oh yes, you can. 

I started with a background. Here I am working in a watercolor 7" x 10" book from Grumbacher. I like this particular book because the pages pull out so you can work without the bulk of the book being in the way. Then when your page is finished - you can pop the page right back into the book for storage. 

I began this page by laying down a one inch strip of blue painter's tape all the way around all four edges of the page. For color I used Schmincke watercolors - any brand will do - and started working in circles with two shades of blue. Not perfect circles, just circular in motion. I did not pre-wet the page first. And last I added some pretty purple to fill in the rest of the page. (Just leave that painter's tape on.) 

I had removed my painter's tape because I didn't know how long it would be before I came back and finished this page. The longer you leave painter's tape on your paper - the harder it is to remove.

Using a Sharpie ultra fine point marker I just followed the flow of the circles of blue. I had a plan in mind for making a blue sunflower and I had a plan for how I wanted to do the center. If you don't have a plan, just make the lines and a plan can come later. Don't overthink this. It is just a piece of paper. And pretty much any way you draw this will be right. 

I wanted a sunflower. Yes, I know sunflowers are mostly yellow and I found out recently there are pink sunflowers. And according to Mr. Google there really are blue sunflowers as well. So I just started drawing petals. I use a Sharpie because it is permanent. It works well with wet media. And I was going to add more wet media so that is important.

I continued the petals all the way around, drawing right across the tape where I needed to. It is okay for your flower to totally fill up the space and look like it extends off your page. 

In that purple section I added two flowers that are drawn similarly except with shorter round petals. And I wanted something to fill that band in between the two types of flowers. So I tangled some viola-type flowers in that area. You could leave it blank if you want. All my drawing was done before I started adding more color. 

Don't be alarmed by how awful it looks at this point. Hahahaha! Gotta push past the uglies. I used my Schmincke watercolors again to paint the three larger flowers. I used a bright pretty yellow on those sunflower petals. The blue colors underneath make it look green but I am okay with that. Mainly because I know the next steps are going to make it look better. 

The bright opera rose pink color I used on those lower flowers mixed with the blue and made purple. And I was okay with that as well. 

I elected not to paint the little violas. 

Notice the paint covers up a lot of my lines. This is why I don't detail the flowers until afterwards. Just basic lines before I paint. 

Then comes the detail work. Just look at the sunflower for now. I used the ultra fine black Sharpie and a white Posca Paint Pen to add all the details. In the central part of the flower I added a lot of stippled black and white dots for the center, then a couple bands of the tangle weave for the textured part of the middle. I went back over the lines for the petals, then back traced them for a second layer of lines. Back traced? Do the same thing but in reverse. I did the black lines first and the white highlights last. Same for the leaves. And that is all there is to it. 

 

I detailed the pink flowers the same way. All the black line work first, then the white highlights. On the little violas, I added a gold line on the right side of each petal with a white line on the left side. 

To finish my piece of art, I took a black Archival ink pad and a stencil brush and added a black shadow around the edges and right onto the tape. Not necessary but it does give a more completed look to your art.

Lastly, I used a heat gun all over the page. It helps heat set the archival ink I added last. And it helps loosen that painter's tape up a bit to make it easier to remove. Take the tape off and call it done. I know that you can totally do this! And I would love to see it. If you are in my FB group Tangle All Around you could even post your piece of art in my group because it has tangles in it. Yep! This one has weave, tipple and viola. I would love to have you join us there. 

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