Snowdrops Aquarelle
Art Monday Series
Post 8
It might not come to you as a surprise that floral studies are often appearing in my aquarelle work. These delicate beauties are uplifting for the soul – to study, admire, paint and admire again. They are a delight for the soul unlike anything else.
As I am currently working on the new series of paintings (which may or may not include them as a subject – my lips are sealed, I cannot reveal anything more at this stage, my friend, but keep a close eye, I will inform you in due course, I promise) - I looked through my files today and these white snowdrops just wanted to be shared as stars of this post.
What was instantly appealing to me was the dark backdrop of deepest greens and navy blues that my eye saw, and some tender new grown grass appearing in the undergrowth, through no doubt wet, thick cover of fallen leaves few months ago. I like the contrast of the white flower heads and the shape of their petals against the dark leaves. This was fun to plan, draw and paint.
In painting with water colours, due to their transparent quality, you want to make decision where you are keeping the paper white (because if it gets covered with anything, even a clear water wash – it will lose that pure, crisp whiteness), in other words – the highlights are what you have to notice and think of first in watercolour painting. As my flower heads are white, I wanted to show that by preserving most of the petals as pure white paper, no washes on top of it.
Even though the largest portion of the background is light in colour, it had a light washes of Indigo and Payne's Gray and some distant flowers in it, recognisable enough as snowdrops. Painting leaves was a dance with colours and different washes, as my eye saw in the reference photo. Really small sable brushes were used for the centre of the flowers and tops of the stems to accentuate the details and bring it all into focus. Then a few last strokes in the short grass below the flowers to finish it.
This painting, as it’s the case with many paintings (I will get into that on other occasion), uses a limited colour palette: Payne’s Gray, Indigo, Ultramarine, Sap Green, Lemon Yellow and a few strokes of Manganese.
To accentuate the pure whiteness of the snowdrop flower heads, I have used a darker coloured mount (I broke my own rule like that only a few times before – less than a handful in all my 23 years as an artist, and didn’t use my usual China White for the mount). Also, for uniformity my frames are all painted either matt black, or Wimborne White by Farrow & Ball (although my frames are all solid wood, and hand made to measure by my father, and come in a huge variety of different mouldings) – because it’s easier to make displays and focus on the art itself when exhibiting them in large numbers regularly. For this painting, I chose a black frame. I hope you enjoyed this little insight and a closer look into one aquarelle painting.
Remember – You Are Safe Here
This is the sacred place between our souls. Thank you for sharing your visions, dreams and ideas. Your courage to be vulnerably seen will always be respected, and you will be treated with nothing but kindness and compassion. ♡
P.S. One to pin and save for later? You're welcome!
P.S. One to pin and save for later? You're welcome!
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