Red shape, green shape: a step-by-step bouquet
Posted: March 27, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized 69 CommentsI had a bit of time today so thought I’d do a step-by-step post of a bouquet of flowers I had on my counter. There are no pencil lines in this, just brush shapes and colour on a pad of Fluid watercolour paper — a quick flower sketch for a grey day in Montreal.
The first washes you make on the white paper are the most satisfying, aren’t they? You haven’t overworked anything, or messed up any washes yet! With flowers I try to group the blooms into big masses of colour, and add variety in the washes. For these Alstroemeria flowers I used yellow, orange and red pigment, and let the washes flow together.
The next step is to add the green, again in one big shape. Since the foliage is lightest at the top of the bouquet, under my counter lights, I used more yellow and as I moved down to the foliage in the vase, I allowed the green to darken.
When those two washes are dry, the fun part starts. I go back into the flowers to define them a bit. At this stage I think about edges of petals, centres of blooms, etc. This is still fairly loose.
The next step is to pick out some of the leaves, figure out what is in front and what is behind, and also where the vase starts. That’s where the sharper darks come in too.
The last steps are the final details: a bit of spattering for the flowers, some tiny shapes of stems and the darkest darks. And even though you see 2 brushes in the photo, this was all done with a Winsor Newton #8 brush.
Here’s the final sketch, fully dry and scanned. If you are interested in these types of exercises, the paper in these Fluid Field Watercolor Journals is perfect. Colours retain their brightness, the paper is not too textured so you can use an ink line if you wish, and they are reasonably priced too. This was sketched on the 7″ x 10″.
Shari Blaukopf's Sketchbook 
Very helpful, Shari. Thanks.
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Thanks for letting me know Jo.
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This is lovely and absolutely the kind of info that I have been looking for, to help me “loosen up” in my paintings. Thanks so much.
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So glad it was useful for you. Thanks so much for letting me know.
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Thank you for this lesson. It is fun to see how you start and finish a painting. I would love to see more of what you paint in a step by step lesson. I love the fresh and loose feel to your flowers.
They’re beautiful.
Thanks
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Many thanks Patricia.
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Shari has several classes available online at Craftsy.com. She is an excellent teacher, and I recommend the classes highly! (Unsolicited praise, guys! I am a real Shari Blaukopf fan.) 😀
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This step-by-step is incredibly helpful. It takes the mystery out of “where do I begin?”
Thank you!
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You’re welcome PJ. I’m glad it was helpful.
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What a beautiful bouquet to brighten my dismal, rainy, NY day! Love seeing your step by step process. I love the loose style.
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thanks Joan!
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I, too, want to thank you for the lesson. I can’t wait for the next one!
Have a wonderful evening.
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Thanks Helen, and hope you have a wonderful evening too.
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Hi Shari — I will try this soon! Thank you -)
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Without a pen??
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Yes! Without a pen or pencil even — how about that? I just need to buy the flowers -)))
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Thanks so much, Shari! OK, so I’ve just finished my first attempt… and am wondering to myself how many of us pulled out our paint and #8 to give it a try! This is great… now I am going to attempt my own bouquet of Alstroemeria on the kitchen counter — my favourite cut flowers for lasting so long!
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Hi Lisa, I love Alstroemeria for the same reason. They can last about two weeks. I’m so glad you got out your number 8 to give this a try!
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Thank you THANK you THANK YOU ~ I’ve always wanted you to do this & know it’s a lot of work to do it ; I’ll be working with this a lot
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Soni, I am really glad this was a useful lesson for you.
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Nice to see the steps and how you worked at the balance of colors and values.
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Thanks Holly!
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Thanks for the lesson, especially the water line.
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Thank you so much for sharing the steps to your magic!!!
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Many thanks Jodi.
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So fresh looking! Could you share the greens you used. Just what I am always trying to achieve.
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Hi Zuzala. I used Sap Green but I always mix it with something. For the lighter greens I added some Hansa Yellow and for the darker greens I added Ultramarine. I don’t like Sap Green on its own but it’s always the same green and I prefer variety in greens.
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This was magical, Shari! Mine will look nothing like yours, but I cannot wait to try. The spattering adds so much to the painting. Oh, I cannot wait to give this a whirl. Thanks so much.
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I hope you had fun trying this Lois.
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Awesome process! Even though you explained and photographed your process, frankly it all seemed rather miraculous in the end. I am wowed!
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Thanks for writing Mary!
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Thanks for the step by step…enjoyed it mucho!
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Glad you liked it Dee.
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Thanks for this wonderful demo Shari!!
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Thanks Edo!
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I love your demos…Could you tell us the colors you used and also give us a photo of your source. It always helps to see how you translate what you see into a painting. Thanks.
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Really useful, thanks. It’s great to see the process.
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Glad you liked it Katy.
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Thank you so much for this timely demo.My Art group project this month is to do something Spring like and I have been struggling to paint some daffodils in a vase. I will give it another go following your advice. You make it look so easy even though it isn’t!
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I always have trouble with daffodils Ivana. I think it is because it’s hard to go dark with yellows. Last year I painted one vase of daffodils about six time until I was satisfied. I hope you have more luck than me.
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wonderful painting. thank you for the demo. i learned something in reading it.
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Thanks for letting me know Stacey.
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This is beautiful . Thanks for the demo. It helps so much to see the steps.
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I’m really glad it was helpful Judy.
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This is beautiful, and I loved to see your process! Thank you!
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Thanks so much!
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I am definitely going to try this svereal times Shari..thank you:)
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I hope you enjoy the practice Monique.
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Loved the vibrancy and spontaneity of your sketch. Thanks for sharing your technique with this step by step demo.
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I’m really glad you liked it Liliane.
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Beautiful stuff! We still have snow on the ground, so I’m determined to paint something bright (my wife is a flower person). And after you mentioned Fluid paper in a comment to an earlier post, I tried it — and like it. The surface is great for pen and ink, though I haven’t found the Fluid 100 to be as tough as the Langton or Arches.
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Hi TCWriter,
I’m glad you tried the Fluid paper. You’re right about the texture. It’s not as tough as the other papers you mentioned but it is the only paper I have found that can take a good ink line and still retain colour vibrancy. If I want to do a bigger painting I will always go for a better paper but I find this perfect for sketching. I hope you painted some flowers.
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Super post Shari! Thank you! Very inspiring, as the numerous comments attest. We can follow these steps, but to achieve a similar result one needs to hone our observation and drawing skills. Your skills are magical and masterful!
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Oh, stop that stuff!
But this seems to be a well-appreciated post so I am happy about that. Thanks Alison.
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Shari..I bought daffodils yetserday..La Société du Cancer..when I came home..and put them in a glass milk bottle..your tutorial popped into my mind..I just did a quick quick one ..on a 6x 12 sheet..in my STrathmore book..I never paint that size..I usually divide the page..anyways thank you.I loved this exercise..I can actually they they are a FORM of daffodils..the bottle and etc..? Well..not sure.Thanks:)
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Yes, it is daffodil week. I haven’t bought any yet but I always do. And then I have so much trouble painting them. I hope you do better than I usually do.
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Thank you Shari for the exercise… I found It so helpful!
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I’m so glad about that Susan!
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Thank you so much, Shari. It means the world to see how an skilled artist like you works and be able to learn from these small samples. They are very helpful. Thanks again.
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Thank you so much, Shari. It means the world to see how a skilled artist like you works. These small samples are very precious for those who are self-taught and have no other ways to learn more. It will be my practice for the weekend. I’m so happy!
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Thanks for this Shari. Had a lovely time with my new Daniel Smith watercolours which made the whole thing so vibrant. Such a lovely lose exercise. I’m so pleased with it I have put it up on my Flickr account (Dee Robotham).
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Hi Dee, I’m so glad to hear that this was useful to you as well as so many other people. I never know if anyone enjoys the step-by-step but I can see that it was very popular. I am really glad about that! Thanks for writing.
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Love your work Shari, artist and art teacher, Michele Bownes in New York.
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Thanks so much Michele!
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Love this type of painting. I’m too controlled in my watercolor and need to loosen up. Thanks for the outline of how to get loose.
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Thanks so much Annie!
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Thank you. Will try it today. Best wishes.
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Great post. I have just started watercolors and I really needed something like this. It is amazing how the depth in the foliage was achieved – the leaves that are in front and some at the back. Will try but I doubt if I will be able to get that effect. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you!
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