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Art Tip: Waterlily Demonstration
August is the month
when quiet waterways
and wetlands become
flowering water gardens.
Water lilies and lotus
flowers exhibit their glorious beauty.
For this watercolor, I worked on
300 lb. cold pressed Winsor and
Newton watercolor paper. The
watercolors were by Graham except for the Quinacridone Gold.
It was by Daniel Smith. I used
the following palette of colors.
Color palette
During August, I visit the
Montreal Botanical Gardens to view the water
lilies and lotus flowers. These water flowers are in small
ponds and can be seen up close.
For this watercolor, I have chosen a water lily as my subject. The value sketch is detailed, but the format of the
work is not decided at this
point in the process.
This sketch will give me
the information about the
details and values of the
flower that I will need during the painting process.
I used the GOLDEN MEAN to decide the placement of the
flower. The area of interest would be towards the upper
right of the format.
With the area of interest determined, I was able to establish the size of the remainder of the background. I was
ready to draw the water lily onto the watercolor paper. This
value sketch would be my compositional reference while
working on the watercolor.
After transferring the water lily, I masked out the shapes of
strong light.
This helped me to see the area of focus more clearly. The
small touches of light became the detail required to attract
the eye to that section of the painting.
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Waterlilly Demonstration continued
The first wash was applied onto a wet paper. I painted Azo
Yellow and Gamboge in a variegated wash over the entire
surface of the watercolor paper.
While the paper was still wet, I added a tint of Alizarin Crimson into the lily pad shape that crossed over the water lily. I,
also, added the same tint to the bottom petals of the water
lily and to the bud that was showing above the water.
I continued adding the two yellows onto the paper while it
was still wet. I did not want hard edges at this time.
I allowed the paper to dry thoroughly. Then rewetting the
paper, I applied the next wash which consisted of Phthalocyanine Blue and a mix of Quinacridone Gold and Phthalocyanine Blue.
With this wash, I was starting to create shapes that would
give a feeling of space.
More lily pad shapes were added to the composition using a
mix of Phthalocyanine Green and Quinacridone Gold.
Dioxazine Violet was added wet-in-wet into the lily pad
shape at the bottom left, into the bottom petals of the water
lily and into the bud coming out of the water. The cast shadow under the water lily was applied with a mix of Phthalocyanine Blue and Quinacridone Gold.
I continued working in the background and in the flower
at the same time. I prefer to work the whole surface of the
composition as a unit.
I used the Quinacridone Gold and Phthalocyanine Blue mix
as a tint in the flower petals. This was alternated with a mix
of Quinacridone Gold and Alizarin Crimson.
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copyright © Artist Barbara Simmons. All rights reserved.
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Waterlilly Demonstration continued
Dioxazine Violet was added wet-in-wet into the blue water to
darken it.
At this stage, I continued to increase the intensity of the colors. Each time I returned into a shape, I moistened it with
water before applying the color.
Phthalocyanine Green and Alizarin Crimson were mixed to
make a dark shade color. The greens and the blues were
darkened with this mix. The maskoid was still on the flower
and was appearing lighter than the yellow tint of the water lily.
It was time to remove the maskoid. I prefer to do this before
the painting is complete.
I needed to know if I required more contrast near the flower.
Once the maskoid was removed, I was able to clean the
edges of the flower petals. I rewet the lily pad to the left of the
water lily and added another wash of Phthalocyanine Green
and Quinacridone Gold to mute the bright light on the lily pad.
This wash was extended into the lily pad on the bottom left. A
Phthalocyanine Green and Alizarin Crimson mix were applied
to the blue of the water to further deepen the color.
In Still Waters
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copyright © Artist Barbara Simmons. All rights reserved.