Three peonies, step-by-step
Posted: June 1, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized 56 CommentsIt is a day for garden painting. The extreme heat of last week has moved on, the sky is clear blue, the wind has died down and flowers are starting to bloom. I had briefly considered driving clear across the city to paint at the Botanical Gardens but there’s so much in my neighbourhood to paint. I found a stunning bed of perennials and an owner happy to share the beauty.
On a quarter sheet of Fabriano cold-pressed paper, I draw the main shapes of the flowers and foliage. Then I wet most of the sheet and paint in a light wash of pinks and greens, and wait until the first wash is completely dry.
The next step is to define the flower shapes by doing a little negative painting. With the three flower shapes I try to keep each one a different size and a different distance apart.
From there, more definition is added to the peonies, and with a finer brush some of the darker shapes appear in the foliage. At this stage, I try to keep it quite abstract.
The three peonies are quite isolated in the garden — mostly surrounded by foliage — with a few columbines and irises in the distance.
The final stage includes adding in detail stuff, mostly in the foliage and a little in the blooms.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Very nice! 😉
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Thanks!
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I love this so much! Hardly tried flowers at all but I love the way you start with abstract. Beautiful!
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Thanks Catherine. I am trying to paint a lot of flowers because I’ll be painting at an event at the Botanical Gardens. I want to be prepared for it!
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A wonderful post! Thanks for the step-by-step, Shari. I love finding out your “thinking.”
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Thanks so much Jane. Glad you liked it.
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I love this post, Shari! Thanks so much for showing your steps. I’ve never really painted flowers and foliage much and want to try more. These are gorgeous! 😍
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I would love to see you try. You do such a great job with all the food you draw, I bet you would be great with flowers too.
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I’m going to be trying this month…hehe… my June Adventure is all about Nature! (what better way to force myself to go for it… we’ll see how it goes! 😊hehe)
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PS…thank you so much for the wonderful compliment!! 😊😊😃
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At what point do you consider a “work” as a painting as opposed to a sketch. I’m torn but I love it…the peonies. and many others too!! 😀
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I get asked that a lot Paul. These days I consider a “painting” something that is done on a sheet of paper, using mostly pure watercolour, and larger than a book size. For me, these days, a “sketch” is something in a book, usually starting with ink and finished with wash. It used to be less clear but these days that is how I seem to be working.
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It is so generous of you to share your expertise this way, Shari. Very useful and, as always, beautiful!
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Thanks Miú!
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Love it. My paonies will soon be blooming & I am going to try this. However they are a very large white variety. Might have to change their colour or maybe wash with soft blue???
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You will probably want to have some of the peonies in sun and some in shadow. James Gurney just painted some incredible roses at the New York Botanical Gardens. Have a look at how he dealt with light and shadow on the blooms. Even though they are pink, you really get a sense of the light. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/06/rose-garden.html
Also look at how Charles Reid deals with white flowers.
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It seems the WI is warmer than here as my peonies are budding but not blooming..what beautiful weather we are having..a gift!
Love the peonies and thanks for the sbs..
I am going to try when mine bloom:) Try..being the operative word.
I love that they are perfect suggestions of peonies and not exact replicas..I am not as much moved by exact replicas..yet I know they are perfect.
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I bet you have a beautiful garden Monique. I hope the rain we had today hasn’t ruined all the blooms on your peonies!
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I love seeing the progression. Beautiful.
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Thanks so much Patricia!
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Gosh. This is enviable. I’d like a class, please.
>
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I’d love to give a class in flower painting! I will suggest it to Craftsy but I believe they already have a lot of flower painting courses.
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Amazing what a great lesson– I have looked at this 3 times and I will be doing it again tomorrow. Love it
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Lisa, thank you!
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Thanks I really appreciate the step by steps you do
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thanks Valmae!
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Love the step-by-step Shari — I am soooo ready for a workshop or Craftsy course on pure watercolour… no ink lines. Three years later I am starting to see the light -))) Thank you!
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In Burlington I will grab that pen out of your hand Jane!!
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Hah-hah Shari — excellent -)))
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Gorgeous! Love the layering and seeing the development on sight. Thank you for sharing.
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Glad you like it!
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Don’t forget to tag this post #NatureDoodlewash for Charlie’s June Adventure! It is an ideal subject. Soft and beautiful.
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Thanks! I will try to remember that!
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Beautiful! And fascinating to see the process.
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Thanks Michael!
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Thanks for this – it is lovely. Flowers are so difficult and the progression gives me an insight in how to make it slightly easier! The weather in the UK at the moment though is very cold – so I won’t be outside!
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That’s the wonderful thing about flowers. You can bring them inside to draw. It’s what keeps me going all winter when I need some colour!
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Gorgeous – and such restraint! Like the beginnings, with washes covering the whole sheet and blending together.
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Glad you like it Anne. Thanks for letting me know!
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Love it, and it was great to see the progress shots. Thanks.
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Thanks Joan!
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Each day you offer such treasures of wonderful washes that form such lovely images. They are crisp and clean…. never muddy. It is a joy to watch the steps you take and helps me in my own craft of painting. Thank you, thank you.
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You are very welcome Bernadette. I really appreciate that you took the time to send me feedback.
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Hi Shari,
Love the peonies step by step. Have been trying to do flower
watercolor sketches here and it is not the easy. Negative
shapes is something I will try.
You are an inspiration!
I wasn’t able to do watercolor until I took your workshop
last summer and then followed up with your Craftsy classes.
Thank you Shari!
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Hi Theresa, I always love to hear from you. So glad that you learned something from the classes, an hope to see you one of these days!
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Love the greens….they are so difficult for me.
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Thanks Donna!
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Dear Shari, Thank you for generously sharing your demos with us! “Someone” once said, “Give and Ye shall receive”. I hope you are showered with encouragement and love.
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You are very kind Laurie. I’m glad you like the demos!
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Shari: thanks for taking us through the process. When you apply the wash over the paper in step one, how do you prevent the paper from buckling? I find that when I tape my Arches 140 pound cold press (or Fabriano Studio paper) and then apply water over the surface, I typically will get some buckling of the paper. Maybe I am using too much water? Any advice?
Once again, great work and thanks for taking the time to share it.
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Hi Fred,
Since this is unstretched paper I do get some buckling, but if I put it out in the sun to dry for a few minutes, it does go back to almost flat again quite quickly. You may be using too much water if the paper stays really bumpy. Try a little less next time.
Regards,
Shari
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I’m late with saying ‘thank you’ for taking the time to post another step-by-step. It is amazing how much you are able to teach us with these posts. I love to garden; maybe many of us have that in common. Because of my location way down south, I can have flowers year ’round. This post is a marvelous inspiration.
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I am always happy to hear comments Louise, so it’s never too late for me. Lucky you, to have flowers year round. I spend half the year buying them at the grocery store when I need a colour fix.
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Lovely work, and now I have some insight into how to paint flowers in watercolor!
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Thanks Vidya. The step-by-step is useful for me as well because it helps clarify how I teach in workshops, but glad you like it too.
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[…] I am not by any means a botanical artist. I’m not even a painter of flowers in watercolor (not yet!). I know the botanical people are committed to accuracy, and the flower […]
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