Cherry Blossom Painting Tutorial Step 1

It's a beautiful rainy day here in Arizona and as promised I am going to share with you the first part of my painting tutorial! This tutorial will be a 3 part watercolor series. If you follow along, by the end of the week you will have completed a beautiful Cherry Blossom painting!

Here is the finished painting:

Here is the list of supplies that you will need:

-140 lb. watercolor paper

-Brushes: Rounds sizes 6,8,10

-Paints: New Gamboge, Opera Rose, Violet, Alizarin Crimson, Turquoise, Burnt Sienna, and Ultra Marine Blue.

- White water based paint pen

- HB Pencil

This is going to be what your painting will look like after completing the instructions for part 1.

TO START:

Sketch the image on watercolor paper with the HB pencil.  Remember to read the directions for each layer before you begin painting.

LAYER ONE: ADDING COLOR

1.   Paint the small petals in the back of the other petals first, so that you have a better idea of how much water and paint to use for more important petals.

2.    Paint water in one petal shape. Move the drop of water to the edge closest to the flower center. Wick Opera Rose into the drop and then move the drop along the shadow part of each petal and then let the color fade towards white at the highlight.

3.    While the petal is still wet, move the drop back to the center of the flower and then wick Alizarin Crimson into the drop and move that drop along the shadow edge to give dimension.

4.  Paint every other petal using this same technique. Make sure that you do not paint petals that are right next to each other while they are still wet, otherwise they will bleed into each other.

5.    Using a slightly damp #8 round swipe New Gamboge on the stem in the area being hit by the sun.  Make sure that you leave some white highlighted areas.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I will see you again tomorrow for Layer Two of this painting!