Today I chose to paint a bouquet of flowers, inspired by one that I received as a gift this week. The colours are so seasonal and beautiful. I really enjoyed sitting down and painting today as I’ve had a busy, stressful week and it was a much needed break. I am very pleased with my inquiry project so far because I am truly enjoying researching different styles and techniques and practicing painting using watercolours.
I found a style of painting on Pinterest that I would describe as “doodle” painting or simplistic painting. I was inspired today by the simple lines and minimal colour palettes of the paintings below. I also liked the idea of adding small details in black pen, and I think it made a great touch to my painting.
If I were to do another painting in this style, I would love to add different types of flowers and more patterns or designs in the black pen, maybe even something like mandala line designs. I might try using different colours or more variety of colour as well. At the same time, I love how minimalistic my painting turned out and how almost cartoonish the flowers are. I think it’s a nice contrast from the actual bouquet of flowers, because you can tell that it is inspired by the real thing because of the shapes and colour scheme, without it being a still life or a realistic painting. I think I did a good job matching the colours of the actual flowers, and it was good practice mixing colours as that’s something I’m trying to improve at. I didn’t create a line drawing before starting to paint, because I felt confident just going for it. Something to note is that I need to be more patient and let the paint dry down before going in and layering paint, because you can see the colours in the vase got a little muddy as I tried to layer paint when it was still wet. I still like the way the vase turned out as I was able to dilute the paint enough to make it look translucent. I also think I successfully layered the flowers and I like how they came out in my final painting.
Key Ideas:
- Finding inspiration online and in real life
- Using a reference photo
- Layering paint
- Choosing a set colour palette
- Simplicity
- Experimenting with opacity
- Adding details/outlining in pen after painting
Jake
I always appreciate your art, Sarah. I spent a while looking at your watercolour, and I love little details like the lines sprouting from the bulb and the flower, making them pop. What a cool style, interweaving the inkwork with the watercolour, sometimes working together, but sometimes independent. I love the work on the glass too! Especially the way you achieved the effect around the rim and on the bottom of the glass.
It’s cool that you went ahead and painted without linework to guide you, your confidence definitely shows in the final piece.
Looking forward to seeing your crow painting!