Sunday 14 April 2013

Tip toe through the Tulips, Water Colour, Moleskine Sketch book

I love tulips, and I love spots. And I really love pears.

Tulips are a lovely subject - a complicated mass of leaves, which are nicely explained in swathes of greens (try mixing Cerulean Blue with Lemon Yellow for a lovely range of 'spring' greens), and deceptively simple petals. And what colour ARE they anyway..? Permanent Rose gives a lovely clean purple, with the added bonus that it's on the bright side as well.


I started with a clear accurate line drawing, which included surface information of shadows and the pattern on the cloth etc. 




Tulips in spotty jug,  by Julie Douglas
I've had this spotty jug for ages, and only painted it once before, in oils. It was lovely to paint in water colour. 
I set this as the subject for my weekly classes, who asked for it to be carried on for a second week. Lets hope the flowers last - just in case they don't, I asked all the students to complete the flowers first, and work on the jug and cloth next time. They have made an excellent start - below are some examples of student work in progress. 







Jayne got a bit carried away and has made early progress on the fabric. Delicious. 


Patterned fabrics are less difficult to paint (who knew?!) as they make the folds and creases clearer in the way the pattern breaks up. Ikea do great, strong patterns for painting. 

Next Up - weekend water colour workshop, portrait workshop, oils and weekly drawing and painting classes. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

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