Watercolor Wednesday: Playtime

There was quite a crowd at today’s Open Studio. Cheryl Bryan decided that this session would be focused on playing with our paint. She brought examples of daffodils rendered in a stylized fashion using watercolor and pen.

I have been struggling with painting lately, so it was very therapeutic for me to let go and try stuff. Here is my 3 by 5 1/2 single daffodil based on the reference image.

After making the drawing with pencil, the panel was taped off and splashed with water Three colors were selected, dropped on the wet paper and encouraged to run. I used Winsor yellow, transparent orange and Prussian blue.

The paint was allowed to dry, then additional paint worked in, mostly around the edges and into the background. After drying thoroughly, the tape was removed and lines worked over the painting. I used a dark blue Micron pen. It was fun to let the elements of the image slip outside the border.

Next, I pulled out one of Bill’s photographs. He loves shooting images of the daffodils in our front yard. This variety is called geranium. They have tiny clusters of three or so flowers topping each plant.

Using the same technique, I worked these cuties in a cool palette of carbazole violet, quinacridone magenta and Prussian blue.

I intensified the color in the short trumpets with some watercolor pencil in gold and dark magenta.

Despite the crowded room, I ended the session feeling relaxed and confident. Now I am ready to return to a slightly bigger painting that I have started, which features a butterfly and some spring weeds. Stay tuned.

To see some of Cheryl’s gorgeous watercolor paintings, you can visit her website:

https://cibstad07.wixsite.com/mysite-1/about