Hazel Soan offers inspiration for anyone unsure of what to paint next and provides the perfect solution in painting flowers in wet-in-wet watercolour
If you ever feel stuck for a painting subject, are short on inspiration, or just need a mood uplift, I recommend painting flowers. Being in the presence of their inherent natural beauty has the ability to lift the spirits in any case, but by actively painting them they are able to impart even more of their bonhomie.
Watercolour is the ideal medium for painting flowers as its kinetic nature is a perfect match for the flow of nature rippling through the floral world; the two seem to be made for each other! Flower paintings can be free and spontaneous, impressionistic or descriptively detailed. You can use the biggest of brushes and mix lashings of yummy colour on the palette or paint tiny delicate watercolours with the finest of brushes. Brightly coloured flowers offer the opportunity for painting in strong, cheerful colours such as red, violet and pink – hues that immediately raise the dopamine levels. Unless you are a botanical painter, you may rarely get to use colours like opera rose and brilliant purple. My tubes have lasted years; here’s their chance to show off!
Wet-into-wet technique
Watercolour’s unique wet-into-wet technique enables an ease of blending that aligns the painting process directly with the organic rhythms of flowers and foliage. Even the most complex petal layering can be indicated in seemingly effortless ways. Wet-into-wet blending enables attractive variegated passages of colour as well as the gentle grading of tone.
The technique is executed by brushing dryish, damp or wet pigment into wet paint already laid on the paper (or onto paper dampened with water). The result is that the added colour disperses outwards beyond the brushmark as the water carries the pigment particles out into the receiving wash (or across the wet paper). The particles of pigment mingle with particles of paint already laid but as yet unset, creating a micro-pointillism effect as they settle and dry.
The outward spread is dictated by the dryness or wetness of the added colour and the level of dampness of the wash previously laid. In most cases the added colour should be more concentrated and slightly drier than the previous colour since it will be further diluted by the water already on the paper. The key is to have both the receiving colour and the added colour at just the right level of wetness/dampness for the dispersion to occur as intended. If both the receiv
