no. 8 flat • no. 12 flat • no. 16 flat
3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat
Thicket • Fresh Foliage • Yellow Light • Wicker White • School Bus Yellow • Burnt Umber
1. Begin by creating a Tone-on-Tone background following the directions in the techniques section. Let dry completely. Double-load a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat with Thicket and Fresh Foliage and pick up lots of floating medium to make painting easier. Use the chisel edge of your brush to make a V-shape guideline where the notch of the leaf will be. Start on one side of the V and draw the outside shape of the leaf. Fill in the center, then use the chisel edge to paint the veins.
2. Paint a thick straight stem coming up from behind the leaves. Double-load a no. 16 flat with Yellow Light and Wicker White and paint the outermost two layers of petals, keeping the white to the outside. If you want a bright yellow lotus blossom, pick up more Yellow Light. If you want lighter-colored blossoms, pick up more Wicker White. Paint the outermost layer of petals first, then the next, inner layer, offsetting the petals from the first layer.
3. Paint the final, smaller layer of petals using the same brush and colors. Offset these petals from the second layer. To paint the center stamens, double-load a no. 8 flat with School Bus Yellow and Wicker White and pull some tiny, curving chisel-edge strokes downward toward the center.
4. Load a no. 12 flat with lots of floating medium and side-load into a little bit of Burnt Umber. Float shading under and around the outermost petals to separate them from the background and to accent the pointed tips of the petals. Shade between the petal layers here and there to separate them as well. To finish, paint the smaller lotus blossom the same way. Allow some of the stem to peek through between the blossoms.