no. 10 flat • no. 16 flat • no. 2 script liner • 3⁄4-inch (19mm) scruffy
Thicket • Fresh Foliage • Burnt Umber • Dioxazine Purple • Wicker White • Violet Pansy
1. Create a Sky and Clouds background following the directions in the techniques section. Let dry. Double-load a no. 16 flat with Thicket and Fresh Foliage, plus a little Burnt Umber. Paint the stems and the long, slender leaves.
2. Pounce on the general shape of the blossom with a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) scruffy double-loaded with Dioxazine Purple and Wicker White. Pick up a little Violet Pansy occasionally on the purple side of the scruffy for color variation. Don’t overblend—leave some areas dark and some almost white.
3. Double-load a no. 10 flat with Violet Pansy and Wicker White. Begin painting the individual florets, keeping the Wicker White to the outside. Leave some open spaces between the florets so the background colors show through. To vary the colors of the florets, pick up some Dioxazine Purple sometimes, and more Wicker White other times.
4. The blossoms of the butterfly bush come to a point at the bottom where the buds are forming. To paint the buds, chisel edge little teardrop strokes extending downward from the main part, using a no. 10 flat double-loaded with Dioxazine Purple and Wicker White.
5. Using the same brush and colors, stroke in a lot of little five-petal florets to fill in the blossom. Remember to vary the colors you pick up on your brush as you did in step 3. Finish with a couple of curlicues or tendrils using inky Fresh Foliage on a no. 2 script liner.