This wreath design relies on a considered composition and a balance of elements. The project combines techniques that have been used throughout the book. Made up of flowers, leaves and sprigs, the design would look lovely on a greetings card and can be personalised by adding text inside the circle.
› Hot-pressed watercolor paper
› Plate, 20cm (8in) in diameter (optional)
› Pencil
› Mixing palette
› Scrap watercolor paper for color testing
› Water jars
› No. 4 round brush
› No. 1 round brush
Box Violet
Rose Madder
Lemon Yellow
Cadmium Orange
Sap Green
Hooker’s Green
Emerald Green
Raw Sienna
Indigo
Flower colors
Box Violet
Box Violet + Rose Madder
Lemon Yellow
Lemon Yellow + Cadmium Orange
Use just a touch of Cadmium Orange
Base greens
Sap Green + Hooker’s Green
Sap Green + Emerald Green
Dark green
Hooker’s Green + Raw Sienna
Use just a touch of Raw Sienna
Eucalyptus
Hooker’s Green + Indigo
1/ Draw around a plate positioned in the centre of the page, then draw an arrangement of flowers and leaves around the circle. Make two focal points diagonally opposite each other with flowers, sprigs and eucalyptus.
2/ Paint the flowers first. Use the No. 4 round brush to apply dilute Box Violet to the purple chrysanthemum, then, working wet on wet, drop in more concentrated Box Violet to recreate the texture of the petals. Use the Box Violet and Rose Madder mix for the second chrysanthemum and the hyacinth.
3/ While the flowers dry, work on the leaves. Rinse the brush and use it to apply the two base green mixes to give some variation in color around the wreath. Working wet on wet, layer up the leaves with more pigment. Let dry.
4/ Add the dark green to the base of the leaves, working wet on dry, to give them more controlled definition and a sense of depth. You can also layer up with your base mixes if necessary to even out any overly harsh contrast in color.
5/ With the flowers now dry, shade some of the purple petals with more Box Violet, then use the No. 1 round brush to fill in the centres of both chrysanthemums with Lemon Yellow. Paint in the eucalyptus sprigs with the eucalyptus paint mix, and add dotted brushstrokes of Rose Madder to create the texture of wild eucalyptus.
6/ Still working wet on dry, paint Rose Madder at the base of the hyacinth petals to indicate their individual form, so the flower does not look like one solid form.
7/ Layer the second chrysanthemum with the orange mix, so that the colors become more intense and the flower more detailed. Continue layering up each motif in this manner, so that they look more vivid and three-dimensional. Rotate the page to make sure the wreath is balanced when viewed from different angles, and add any additional elements where necessary.
