This project uses vibrant color mixes to recreate the butterfly-like, geometric leaves and small flowers of the dainty Oxalis triangularis. Using wet on wet you will create the delicate leaves that, while repetitive in shape, vary in value.
MATERIALS
› Hot-pressed watercolor paper
› Pencil
› Mixing palette
› Scrap watercolor paper for color testing
› Water jars
› No. 4 round brush
› No. 1 round brush
› 12mm (½in) oval wash brush
Cobalt Violet
Venetian Brown
Magenta
Phthalo Green
Phthalo Blue
Leaves
Cobalt Violet + Venetian Brown
Cobalt Violet + Magenta
Flowers
Cobalt Violet
Planter
Phthalo Green + Phthalo Blue
Soil
Venetian Brown
1/ To draw your own composition, start with the planter, since this will help you work out how wide to make the plant. Decide how tall your plant will be and, working from the top, draw the delicate, heart-shaped leaves that cascade down from individual stalks. Include some that flow over the top of the pot. Draw small flowers nestled among the leaves.
2/ For the purple leaves, mix Cobalt Violet with a small amount of Venetian Brown to mute it slightly, so it doesn’t look artificial. For the leaf centres, mix Cobalt Violet with Magenta to make a pinkish purple for contrast. The flowers are naturally white, but to see them on the page, dilute Cobalt Violet to achieve a very light purple. For the planter, mix Phthalo Green and Phthalo Blue to make a bright, contrasting turquoise. Diluted Venetian Brown is used for the soil.
3/ Using the No. 4 round brush, apply a diluted layer of the first purple mix to four or five leaves, starting at the top. Drop the second, pinkish purple mix into the centre of a leaf and let it disperse gradually. While the page is still wet, add the darker mix again to the edges of the leaf, letting the color mix slightly, but not too much, so you can still see the lighter purple. Repeat for all of the leaves, making some more pink and others more purple. Make the leaves in front of the planter darker to show that they are in the foreground.
4/ Let the page dry a little, then continue to shade the leaves, adding darker purple sections to each leaf. You want the increase in value to be quite dramatic. The drier page will give you more control and ensure that these colors don’t bleed.
5/ Use the No. 1 round brush to add a layer of water to the stalks, then add the deep purple so that it flows along the narrow line of water. Experiment with how much paint you put on the stalks, depending on how defined you want them. Use the same technique, but with dilute Cobalt Violet, to paint the little flowers, keeping them fairly abstract so that they maintain their subtle and delicate appearance.
6/ Use the oval wash brush to paint a horizontal line of the turquoise mix for the base of the planter. Use a clean brush to drag the pigment upwards to fill in the rest of the planter, decreasing in value as you make your way up. Use more pigment to define the base and edges, leaving a gap of white at the top and bottom to give the impression of light and a three-dimensional look. Let dry, then add in some dry turquoise marks to define the pot and give it form. Paint in diluted Venetian Brown for the soil.
