Watercolour Mixing Techniques for Botanical Artists 9781785008290, 1785008293

Table of contents :
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS
CHAPTER 2: UNDERSTANDING COLOUR AND PIGMENTS
CHAPTER 3: ‘SEEING’ COLOUR AND TRICKY MIXES
CHAPTER 4: ADVANCED COLOUR APPLICATION TECHNIQUES
CHAPTER 5: PAINTING WITH LAYERS
CHAPTER 6: UNDERLAYING COLOUR TO ENHANCE
CHAPTER 7: COLOUR AND FINE DETAILING
APPENDIX: USEFUL TIPS
USEFUL LINKS
INDEX

Citation preview

WATERCOLOUR mixing techniques for BOTANICAL ARTISTS

Cherry 'Chocolate ice' autumn leaf.

WATERCOLOUR mixing techniques for BOTANICAL ARTISTS Jackie Isard

First published in 2021 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected] www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

© Jackie Isard 2021

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 829 0

Acknowledgements My thanks and gratitude must go to my closest family, David and Tyler, for their patience and belief in me throughout my botanical career. My special thanks must go to all those who have supported and helped me to develop along my journey; Billy Showell, Robert McNeill and Fiona Strickland. Contributors Thank you to the following artists for allowing me to use photographs of their coursework within this publication; Renata Barilli, Susan Brunner, Lisa Chernyavska, Hilde de Hondt, Vivienne Rew, Vicky Sharman, Sue Stuart and Nathalie Wallace.

Contents INTRODUCTION 1 EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS 2 UNDERSTANDING COLOUR AND PIGMENTS 3 ‘SEEING’ COLOUR AND TRICKY MIXES 4 ADVANCED COLOUR APPLICATION TECHNIQUES 5 PAINTING WITH LAYERS 6 UNDERLAYING COLOUR TO ENHANCE 7 COLOUR AND FINE DETAILING APPENDIX: USEFUL TIPS USEFUL LINKS INDEX

Introduction WHY IS COLOUR SO IMPORTANT TO ME? I am passionate about colour and I have written this book to help botanical artists make informed decisions when mixing watercolour pigments. My journey into botanical illustration came from a love of plants and gardening. After many years as a graphic designer I was made redundant and decided to take a garden design course in the hope of pursuing a new career. Learning about plants species, Latin names, soil types and how to put all this together into a beautiful garden design brought me closer to plants than I had ever been. I began to realize I had left nature and my art behind me during my working career and needed to revisit it.

Faded Protea neriifolia ‘Snowcrest’ by Jackie Isard.

Jackie Isard BA (Hons) SBA Fellow CBM ASBA.

I always enjoyed art and drawing from a very young age. My lunch hours at school were spent in the art room from the age of eight. I didn’t think I was very good at it and it wasn’t until 2014 that I took up the paint brush again and tried my hand at painting botanical. Painting plant subjects has brought me closer to nature and there are some plants I really treasure; these are wild flowers. My garden path has turned into a botanical journey. It is wonderful to be able to describe the beauty of nature on paper with watercolour and since I began, my paint brush has been glued to my hand! As a graphic designer I learned a great deal about colour accuracy and how to visually communicate ideas. Although graphic design is a completely different field to botanical art, the disciplines are very similar. All the skills I learned have been very useful but in

different ways. • Observation – Line, Shape, Colour, Botany • Balance – Size, Proportion, Form • Rhythm – Texture, Composition, Detail Observation is definitely key in botanical art and balance and rhythm just as much so. We observe, we compose, we paint! To the botanical artist, colour is a very important part of the painting process. Recognizing and mixing colour accurately is much easier when using learned skills and keen observation. The more you look, the more you will see. Each painted subject will be a new learning experience. Colour mixing is one of my favourite parts of the painting process. You can mix so many different colours with just primaries. On my watercolour mixing courses I introduce students to mixing with primaries only. They are astounded at what they can achieve with just primary warm/cool pigments and the difference it makes to a painting. I discovered over time that there was much more to colour mixing than one realizes and a great deal to be taught. There is so much that can be achieved by learning these techniques too; building up colour in layers, adding underlay shadow tones first, overlaying and underlaying thin soft glazes to enhance colour and getting the balance right with transition of colour temperature from warm to cool. It inspired me to write this book and share all this knowledge with you. During my botanical career I have very much enjoyed teaching. I like to think I inspire, encourage and give confidence to my students. To me, the enjoyment of teaching is that happy moment when a student suddenly grasps a technique or mixes a perfect colour. I just

love to teach! The content of this book is based on Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolour pigments but the theory can be applied to any brand. I hope it will help you make informed choices when selecting pigments as well as learn all you need to know about colour mixing and application techniques. I have endeavoured to describe this in the best way I can. I have also added useful information about the painting process I use when making decisions about colour in step by step guides.

The author teaching at Brackenwood, Bristol.

I hope this book will be helpful to many and a much needed resource for learning about mixing watercolour.

A little history about pigment Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726) was the first person to enlighten us to the spectrum of colours. He developed a series of experiments, which he published in 1672. He started with the rainbow and set up experiments to find out why white light splits into these different colours. The experiment was conducted by shining a white light through a glass prism. The light split into red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. It is from these experiments that he determined a theory that red, yellow and blue were the primary colours from which all other colours are made. Newton developed a basic colour wheel to which he added secondary colours, violet, orange and green. In 1708 he devised a circular diagram, which became the model for many colour systems in the years to come. Later, tertiary colours were added by other experimentalists to complete the colour wheel we are familiar with today.

Newton’s Colour Wheel.

Moses Harris (1730-1785). In his book The Natural System of Colours (1769–1776), Moses Harris described the multitude of colours that can be created from the three primaries (red, blue and yellow). He explained to us how all the colours are produced from primaries in his version of the colour wheel. I think he did an amazing job! The circular diagram was hand-painted and drawn up to explain how all colours meet at their darkest point in the centre of the circle and show the many mixes in between each of the true primaries. The wheel has eighteen colours – primary, secondary plus the in-between colours. At the centre he shows the shades (darker values), and at the outer edge, the tints (lighter values). It is very cleverly designed and explains much more than the basic colour wheel we are familiar with.

Harris’ colour wheel showing the spread of colour with tints and shades.

It is a known fact that there are many colours which never will admit of being mixed together: which are these: green and red, yellow and purple, blue and orange, but if the colours so mixed are possessed of all their powers, they then compose a deep black, as all opposites in either system or scheme will do… therefore no colour or teint can be formed by a connection so unnatural… Moses Harris, The Natural System of Colours. (1766)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749– 1832) published a book called The Theory of Colours in 1810. In it he created a version of the colour wheel designed to describe their natural relationships to

one another. As he explored colours he related them to emotions and attributed different qualities to certain colours. The red–orange– yellow area of his colour wheel he named ‘schön’, ‘edel’, and ‘gut’ respectively, which meant beautiful, noble and good. He considered yellow a bright and exciting colour so named it ‘good’. Red stood for gravity, dignity and attractiveness or beauty. Orange he considered to be noble. An interesting take on colour where emotion is concerned and very relevant to graphic design, which uses colour to entice specific customer markets. For instance, what does the colour purple say to you in the food industry? Yes, yummy chocolate! Watercolour dates back to prehistoric man who made earth pigments and mixed them with water to create cave paintings and body paint. Ancient Egyptians also used water-based paints to decorate the walls of temples, tombs and papyrus. They used natural resources such as ochre, malachite, lapis lazuli, chalk and cinnabar, which were ground into a powder and mixed with gums or animal glue. Medieval and Renaissance artists painted frescos with waterbased pigment onto freshly applied plaster. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel was painted using this method. Often historical botanical paintings were etched and hand coloured by the artist.

Should your glance on mornings lovely Lift to drink the heaven’s blue Or when sun, veiled by sirocco, Royal red sinks out of view – Give to Nature praise and honor. Blithe of heart and sound of eye, Knowing for the world of colour Where its broad foundations lie. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)

Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was the first Renaissance master of watercolour. Dürer painted in great detail and produced some beautiful botanical works. At the beginning of the sixteenth century he was painting plants with great botanical accuracy. It was at this time the plant world was being introduced to new oriental species. Before this time most plants were only recorded as paintings in herbals for medicinal recognition. Eleven of Dürer’s works are kept at the Albertina in Vienna. Among them his beautiful Colombine painting, the well-known Great Piece of Turf, exquisite Peonies and his stunning Iris Troiana. Albrecht Dürer also made wonderful drawings of birds and animals. Other historical watercolour artists of interest are Maria Sibylla Merian (1647– 1717), Franz Bauer (1758–1840), Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840), and Ferdinand Bauer (1760–1826). Franz and Ferdinand Bauer were pioneers in botanical art. Franz contributed to the classification of the orchid species and used a microscope to produce detailed drawings. Ferdinand travelled to Australia where he made hundreds of detailed pencil sketches. Many of the plants he drew were unknown species. He used this collected reference material to paint his incredible watercolours, which are now preserved in the Natural History Museum, London.

CHAPTER 1

Equipment and Materials ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THE BOTANICAL ARTIST Paper: Paper quality is very important, as we all know. You will have chosen your favourite brand. However, for my style of painting I prefer the following papers: Fabriano Artistico HP Extra White or Arches HP Bright White. A good quality paper gives better colour vibrancy and smoother detail, which is essential to the botanical artist. Papers behave differently and you may need to adapt your painting style accordingly. Palette: A good palette makes a difference. A flat ceramic palette or porcelain plate is best. Plastic palettes leave you chasing the paint around them and will drive you mad! There’s no hard and fast rule but I recommend ceramic palettes.

The author's working set up.

My regular brushes.

Brushes: Brushes are also important for botanical painting. There are many brands out there and it can seem confusing. You can end up buying so many different types through recommendation. Choose a brush you feel comfortable with and that works well for you. I do recommend that it is full bodied and has a good pointed tip. For fine detail it is essential to have brushes like this as they hold a lot of paint and will not run out on you as quickly. There is nothing worse than having to top up your brush after every stroke! A pointed tip is

perfect for fine details. Sable and synthetic are available in different brands. My favourite brushes are Raphael Kolinsky 8408 series pointed sable in sizes 2, 4 and 6 (equivalent to Billy Showell’s sable series). I also use the Billy Showell synthetic Eradicator brush and her Fine Liner brush. I sometimes use a Rosemary and Co. series 81 filbert for blending. I have a cheap ¼ inch Cotman flat brush for mixing with. It’s best not to use your good brushes for this. Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes are also excellent. Isabey make similar brushes. The Isabey 6227z is full bodied and pointed. The 6228 has a fuller body and is pointed too. Personally, I prefer the pointed tips on the Raphael 8408 especially for very fine detail. Professional pigment: Always use professional watercolour paint. Choose transparent/semi-transparent pigments for vibrancy and translucence. My preferred brand is Winsor & Newton as I find them extremely reliable and lightfast. Daniel Smith are good pigments and Sennelier have some wonderful pigments too. Select your pigments from watercolour brand colour charts first so you can see the pigment colour index numbers, whether it is transparent or semitransparent and of course if it is lightfast. There are more details in the following chapter to guide you. Most of these charts are available to download free from the internet.

My magnifying glass.

Magnifying glass: You will need a good-quality magnifying glass. There are some good magnifying lamps too but I prefer a hand-held magnifier. Call me old fashioned! This piece of equipment will enhance your vision to enable you to see all those colours and fine details more clearly.

Crop of Winsor & Newton colour chart.

Lighting is essential.

Lighting: You will need very good lighting. To achieve absolute accuracy with colour and fine detail, this part of the equipment list is essential. A good-quality anglepoise daylight bulb lamp will assist with seeing shadows, contrasting areas, colour temperature transition and fine detail. There are many on the market but anything between 5500K and 6500K daylight bulb will be fine. 5500K 90cri is the nearest to daylight. I have invested in two LED strip lights across my studio ceiling as the room is on the shaded side of my house. I also use an anglepoise to light my subject. The smaller the subject, the closer the lamp needs to be. A foldable LED light is good for this and also handy to take with you when travelling. You will instantly see a difference! Backing board: A white folded board or box takes away outside influences from window sunlight and surrounding items around your work station. This makes the light more directional and gives a

constant source.

Pencils and pens.

Drawing equipment: Choice of pencils is a personal thing but I always use Faber Castell 9000 series. These pencils are the best for graphite work too. I have a propelling pencil with a 0.3mm H lead that I use for transferring my drawings to watercolour paper when using a light pad. For erasing I use a Tombow mono zero refillable eraser pen. It’s great for erasing out small details, as the nib is more

precise. You can shape the end to a wedge too for very small areas but take care as there is a plastic rod through the middle. For fine liner drawing I use Pigma Micron 003 pens. They are archival and waterproof. For masking out fiddly details I use a Joseph Gillot reversible mapping pen. It is brilliant for making fine veins and dots. You must be careful not to damage the surface of the paper with the nib though as it is sharp. Practise with it first; you will need to get used to it. Other bits include water pots, a smooth burnishing stone, cloth to wipe brushes (a damp flannel or piece of linen), masking tape, Faber Castell kneadable eraser for taking off excess graphite when tracing up a drawing and a desk easel to work at an angle – better for your back!

CHAPTER 2

Understanding Colour and Pigments THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHAT’S WHAT Colour index names Pigment is the main ingredient for all the paints we buy. All these pigments have properties which include lightfastness, transparency, opacity, granulation, saturation and staining. You will find some symbols on the side of your tubes or pan labels. The pigments are represented by a colour index name and a number for the particular pigment used. Yellows – PY (Pigment Yellow), Oranges – PO, Reds – PR, Greens – PG, Blues – PB, Violets – PV, Browns – PBr and Black – PBk. Some pigments have more than one colour index name. Have a look at your paint tubes to see. If you have unlabelled pans then you can look up these codes and details on the relevant paint company websites. Bear in mind different brands vary even if they appear to have the same pigment name. The index colour numbers will tell you if it is the same colour make up or not.

Primary pigments.

I have made a chart in my paintbox that tells me pigment properties, transparency and lightfastness details. I don’t list the P numbers as I look this up before buying a new colour. Single pigment colour is essential for good mixing. Daniel Smith pride themselves on this. The number of pigments you mix together, outside of three, will affect the colour mix you make. All but three of my chosen pigments are made from single pigment colour index numbers and all are Winsor & Newton professional watercolour. Two of them have two colour index names. New Gamboge has a little PR (red) and Indian Yellow has a little PO (orange) added. I

would usually only mix these colours with single pigments. Quinacridone Gold has three colour index numbers, red, violet and yellow, so I would only mix this with a single pigment colour such as Winsor Violet to make more muted beige/brown tones. Using it with pigments that have more than one colour index will dull the mix a little. Quinacridone Gold does, however, make some beautiful muted/earthy greens when mixed with blues and great beige tones when mixed with Winsor Violet.

What to look for on tubes and pans

Transparency We also need to consider pigment transparency, essential for layering in botanical. There are symbols on your tubes/pans that

represent this:

For vibrancy, translucence and depth I recommend using transparent or semi-transparent pigments for all your botanical work. It is especially important when painting in layers.

Lightfastness Lightfastness is also important to consider. This is the rate at which a pigment will fade. When painting for exhibition it is best to use I, II, A, AA rated pigments. The symbols to note are as follows: I – Very lightfast II – Good lighfast III – Average lightfast IV – Poor lightfastness V – Very poor lightfastness AA – Extremely permanent A – Permanent B – Moderately durable C – Fugitive n.r. – Not rated by ASTM ‘I’ ratings are given by the ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials). The society started testing pigments in 1984 to set

standards for the performance of art materials, including lightfastness. Winsor & Newton use both ASTM and their own permanence ratings. In the ASTM system ‘I’ is the highest lightfastness available and ‘V’ is the lowest. Pigments that are not rated by ASTM or the companies who make them bear the symbol n.r.

Always check the ratings on tubes or even better on the paint company’s colour chart before you buy, to check for lightfastness, transparency, granulation and staining. These are free to download.

‘A’ The Winsor & Newton permanence classifications measure not only lightfastness but also general stability of the pigment. The best ratings for artist use are A, AA, I and II. Schmincke, Daler Rowney and White Nights use asterisks or stars which are ordered in a different way. I have detailed these in the next section. Anything less than the artist use standard will not be as reliable for lightfastness. All this information can be found on the company watercolour charts that you can download online via their websites. One pigment that is classified lightfast rated II is Aureolin. A botanical friend of mine did some intensive testing and discovered

that Aureolin actually fades to beige in direct sunlight. If in doubt test it first!

Other symbols to consider Another classification for a pigment is granulation or staining. You will see a G or St if they are one of these. G = Granulating St = Staining Some pigments are not so smoothly ground and give a granulated appearance. French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue and Cerulean are three of these. This could be a feature you like. Granulation can be a lovely effect but also annoying if you are trying to paint a smooth wash. Staining pigments are permanent and do not lift out well once on paper. Keep that flying paintbrush under control! They are marked with St. You’ll find most ‘permanent’ colours are staining.

Separating colours There are some colours that when mixed together, separate from one another in the palette and when dry. Cobalt Blue mixed with Quinacridone Magenta is one example. This can be quite annoying, as constant re-mixing is needed. Quinacridone Magenta mixed with other pigments behaves well though. You will not really know this until you try. Be conscious of remixing but not adding too much extra water.

THE COLOUR WHEEL AND MORE… Going back to the modern colour wheel, some of the terms that relate to it are explained here.

Primary Colours are colours that cannot be mixed from any other colours – red, yellow and blue. From warm and cool versions of these primaries, all colours can be made. Secondary Colours are the result of mixing two primaries in equal amounts. (R+Y = orange, B+Y = green, B+R = purple). Tertiary or Intermediate Colours are colours made by mixing one

primary and a secondary. (R+O = red/orange, Y+O = yellow/orange, B+P = blue/purple). Complementary Colours are two colours directly opposite each other on the colour wheel. The complement to red is green, to yellow is purple and to blue is orange. Shades – Darker values of colour. Tints – Lighter values of colour.

Pigment values Hue: A word meaning colour, such as red, blue, yellow, green, orange, pink and so on. Intensity: The strength, brightness or purity of a colour. Some pigments’ intensity can be very high, therefore less pigment is required. Cobalt, Viridian, Winsor Lemon are all weak pigments so you’ll need to use more of them. Saturation: The measure of brilliance or purity of a colour. This is a colour that is closer to the absolute primary. For instance, Winsor Red and Winsor Lemon are closer to the true primaries. Quinacridone Magenta will be less saturated as it is closer to the blue/purple spectrum. Temperature: The warmth or coolness of a colour. To me, red, blue and yellow purchased pigments can be warm, cool or in between. It all depends on the bias of the pigment. For instance with red, whether it is to the yellow/orange side(warm) or blue (cool). Blue, whether it is closer to the green (cool) or red (warm) side. At the centre of this page is a diagram that shows primary, secondary and tertiary (inter-mediate) colours and their names. You will notice

black is at the very centre. This is because from the three primaries, colours will darken to almost black (shades). Their shade values of darkness end at the centre. The paler colours will emit from the outer side of the circle eventually reducing to white (tints).

Temperature On the previous page I mentioned that red, blue and yellow purchased pigments can be either warm or cool. This is true and recognizing the difference is often hard. You will mix cooler colours if you use cool primaries and warm colours with warmer pigments. Below is a chart showing the temperature bias of the pigments in my palette. I will be covering more about temperature and how to recognize the difference in the ‘Colour temperature’ section coming up in this chapter. In the ‘Colour temperature transition’ section in Chapter 4, I describe a painted example that covers temperature change across a painted subject.

Key: WL – Winsor Lemon, TY – Transparent Yellow, IY – Indian Yellow, QG – Quinacridone Gold, COB – Cobalt Blue, FU – French Ultramarine, WBGS – Winsor Blue Green Shade, WBRS – Winsor Blue Red Shade, IB – Indanthrene Blue, SL – Scarlet Lake, QR – Quinacridone Red, PR – Permanent Rose, PC – Permanent Carmine, QM – Quinacridone Magenta.

Pigment intensity Some pigments are much stronger than others when you mix them and adjustments need to be made. If adding a strong pigment colour, only add a tiny bit at a time. For example: Winsor Blue (Green and Red Shade), Indigo, Indanthrene Blue, Phthalo Turquoise and Winsor Violet are very strong pigments, whereas Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Winsor Lemon and Quinacridone Red are weaker pigments. Some are middle strength as seen here in my palette colour list. Familiarity with strong pigments and weak will come with experience when mixing.

Fugitives – the unanswered question We have all heard that dreaded word at some point in our painting career. But what does it mean and how do I know if I’m using a fugitive colour? It always seems to be the unanswered question! A fugitive colour is a pigment which, when exposed to sunlight, humidity, temperature or even pollution, will change over time; it might lighten, darken or almost disappear. These are rated ‘B’ or ‘C’. As we discovered earlier, Aureolin (PY40) turns beige. Opera Rose fades because it has added fluorescence. The fluorescence fades leaving the pink pigment PR122 behind. Incidentally Opera Rose is made with the same colour index number as Quinacridone Magenta if you need a bright pink! It still retains a bright pinkness, but a flatter, less vivid version. This is why lightfastness is important to consider when you are selecting colours. If using a less permanent pigment when painting for exhibition I would advise you to put a label on the reverse saying ‘Do not hang in direct sunlight’. Some pigments have a warning attached and contain poisonous chemicals. If like me you have a habit of licking your brush while painting, I would not advise doing this unless you know the pigment is safe. I have made a list of pigments to be aware of across a seven brands in the ‘Useful Tips’ section at the back of this book.

WARM, COOL AND INBETWEENIES

Light and darkness, brightness and obscurity, or if a more general expression is preferred, light and its absence, one necessary to the production of colour… colour itself is a degree of darkness. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)

We are all familiar with the colour wheel showing warm and cool sides. This describes the fact that pigments which err towards the yellow/orange/red side are warm and pigments which err towards the green/blue/mauve side are cool. This is very true and you can use this knowledge to decide whether a pigment you are purchasing is warm or cool. When looking at a pigment, think of it as snow and sunshine. If it has a blue bias it is cool, or a yellow bias it is warm. I find this is the simplest way to look at it.

Warm to cool colour wheel.

Key: WL – Winsor Lemon TY – Transparent Yellow IY – Indian Yellow QR – Quinacridone Red QM – Quinacridone Magenta FU – French Ultramarine WBGS – Winsor Blue Green Shade WBRS – Winsor Blue Red Shade

When looking at the colour wheel there are definite warm and cool sides. When you mix pigments each selection of reds, blues and yellows will have their own cool or warm bias. For instance, the closer to yellow a red is, the warmer it is, the closer to blue – cooler. The closer a blue pigment is to green, the cooler it is and to red, warmer. I refer to individual pigments with a blue/green bias as being cool and colours with a red/yellow bias as being warm. However, there are some pigment colours that I call ‘inbetweeny’. Pigments that are neither warm nor cool within their spectrum range. Warm/cool could be a good description, for example Permanent Carmine, Indanthrene Blue. How confusing, I hear you say! Yes, it is. All you need to work out is whether the pigment has a warm or cool bias or if it is an ‘inbetweeny’. All will behave in a slightly different way when mixed. Warmer pigments will make warmer mixes and when a three-way mix is attempted, muted/earthy colours. Cooler pigments will make brighter mixes as well as three-way mix muted/earthy tones. Inbetweenies will also make muted/earthy tones. These charts show cool and warm mixes. On the first section of mixes two primary colours have been used. You can see that the cool and the cool/warm primaries make bright mixes. Beside these all

three primaries have been mixed and you can see how the colours change to more muted earthy tones. The warm primaries make warmer mixes but are still relatively bright on the left section. The same muted earthy tones appear on the right side section of these three-way mixes. Let’s look at yellows to start with. Yellow comes in cool and warm varieties. The further from the orange/red scale they are, the cooler they will be. Winsor Lemon is a cool yellow which is also closest in saturation to the true primary yellow. Indian Yellow is warmer as it is closer to orange. Reds also come in cool and warm and ‘inbetweeny’ pigments. The closer to the orange/yellow scale they are, the warmer they will be. The closer to the purple/blue spectrum they are, the cooler they will be. Quinacridone Red is warm as it is closest to the true primary. Quinacridone Magenta is cooler as it is towards the blue/violet spectrum. Blues can be cool or warm too. The closer to green they are, the cooler they will be and the closer to red, warmer, and yes, there are some inbetweenies!

Cool primary mixes.

Cool primary and cool/warm primary mixes (TY is a cool/warm yellow

with a slight red bias).

Warm primary mixes.

Cool and warm bias primaries As you have seen, cool primaries generally make brighter mixes. Warm pigments will make warmer mixes. A three-way mix will always make variations of more muted, earthy colour tones regardless of the warm or cool pigment used. They will, however, vary in tone. It’s just a case of experimenting! A few pigments are made up from more than two colour index numbers and this will affect your three-way mix by muting it slightly more. The more colour index numbers a pigment contains, the more muted the mix will be when mixed with others, for example Quinacridone Gold has three colour index numbers. It is always better to mix with single pigment colours or no more than four colour indexes at a time. It is also very useful to practise ‘seeing’ colour to enable you to add important colour variations to your work. This is covered in Chapter 3. Testing and adjusting a mix will open up a world of colour to you without having to search your paint box for the closest match to the subject you are painting. A single pigment ready-mixed paint can be a useful starting point, but bear in mind you will need many mixes of cool and warm colours to achieve good colour temperature transition, vibrancy, depth and form. The ready-made colour will need to be altered and

adjusted to mix the colour you are trying to match. This could mean adding a little blue and red to mute a ready-made green or adding a little red pigment to your purchased brown to make it warmer. So, why not start with primaries instead? There are single pigment colours that have a warm or cool bias. For instance, Perylene Maroon is a yellow bias red even though it contains only one pigment colour, PR179. Therefore, when mixed with blue, you will make a black or brown rather than a purple/mauve. This is because you are mixing yellow, blue and red together. If you mix a warm or cool yellow with Winsor Violet you will make browns again because Winsor Violet has a red and blue bias and is made with Perylene Violet. New Gamboge has a little red in it so will warm mixes, PY150, PR209. Indian Yellow will warm too as it contains a little orange pigment PO62, PY139. Scarlet Lake has a yellow bias so when mixed with some blues will appear muddy. Using a primary with a colour bias will affect your mix! Remember all primaries, in different quantities, will make every colour you can imagine. Be aware that muddy colours come from warmer and darker pigments and bright mixes come from more saturated pigments. Saturated meaning closer to the true primary.

Pigments and the colour wheel I have drawn a colour wheel showing warm and cool areas. I have added the Winsor & Newton pigments with respect to their warmth and coolness around the outside. Each pigment colour is positioned in the segment according to its tone. My theory is that any colour with a green/blue/yellow influence is cool and any with a

red/orange/yellow influence is warm. Why would yellow be in both of the above? This is because Winsor Lemon, a cool yellow, is so close to the cool side. Any pigment close to that would also be cooler rather than warmer. For instance, Transparent Yellow. A yellow with a red influence will be warmer on the scale and with no influence is cool. A red that has a yellow influence is warmer. For instance, Scarlet Lake. A red with a blue/violet influence will be cooler. For instance, Quinacridone Magenta. I consider Quinacridone Magenta a cool/warm red because when mixed it creates cool bright tones. It is so close to the cool line on the colour wheel, and has a blue/violet bias.

Here are some watercolour pigments with a ‘shade’ influence (less saturated, further away from the true primary) and one with a ‘tint’ influence, Raw Sienna. The ‘shade’ pigments will be closer to the centre of the wheel and more muted mixes will be made with these. See left for their approximate positions within the wheel sections on the diagram. Looking at it like this makes it is easier to see where each pigment originates. It is also possible to identify what bias a non-specific pigment has. For instance, Quinacridone Gold, has an orange/yellow bias (section 18) but is less

saturated, further from the true primary.

Earlier I mentioned Scarlet Lake (SL) mixed with some blues will turn a muddy colour when mixed. The reason this happens is because there are a lot of colour biases involved. Mix Scarlet Lake with Phthalo Blue (PT) and you will get this muddy effect because SL is so close to orange/yellow on the spectrum, and PT is a blue/green. Remember – red, yellow and blue make brown! A lot of pigments have a bias towards warm or cool. Perylene Maroon has a yellow bias and Sap Green has a yellow bias. The closer to the cool or warm area on the colour wheel a pigment is, the bias changes. For instance, Winsor Violet is so close to the warm spectrum and Quinacridone Magenta is very close to the cool spectrum. Therefore, in my mind, cool/warm! It is difficult to label a specific pigment as definitely cool or warm unless you are only relating it to the colour wheel. If you relate it to its bias and how it mixes, then it’s a different story.

Making an informed choice Purple and Mauve: Essentially, whatever you mix with different reds and blues will vary in temperature; see my purple and mauve chart. Permanent Rose (PR) and Quinacridone Red (QR) added to Winsor Blue Red Shade (warm) will make different warmer mixes of purple and violet. This is because PR is cool/warm and QR is warm, they will affect the mix. Notice the PR row is brighter but not as bright as the Quinacridone Magenta (QM) row, which is a cooler red. If you use a cool red with a blue/violet bias you will get a much more vivid mix. Quinacridone Magenta – cool/warm, mixed with Winsor

Blue Red Shade – warm, appears warmer as the blue warms the mix. Indanthrene Blue, a cool/warm blue, changes the mix so it is very slightly duller. French Ultramarine really brightens the mix, as it is a very saturated and a cool blue.

Purple and mauve chart.

Colour bias is important to recognize and selecting your pigments is not just a case of whether it is cool or warm on the colour wheel. When selecting your pigments always consider their bias too!

CONTAINERS – TUBES OR PANS? Tubes It is said that the paints in tubes have more intensity and are easier to

work with. I believe this to be true. Tube pigments are mixed with binders, such as Gum Arabic, to keep them from drying out in the tube. When painting, it seems to give more control over spread. Binders like Gum Arabic are said to reduce staining and slow down drying time, allowing you to work a little longer. It also increases gloss and transparency. Occasionally, you may open a tube and find a transparent fluid oozes out. This is the binder fluid. If this happens you can squeeze the tube, whilst the lid is on, to try and manipulate the mixture into the pigment. If that doesn’t help, then remove the excess fluid before using any of the paint. Too much Gum Arabic makes the paint slide about on the paper and palette. It doesn’t mix well and will also take forever to dry.

If needed you can add a little Gum Arabic to your pigment mix

when painting. It will give you a smoother effect. Gum Arabic can be useful if your paint is too dry but only add the smallest amount! The reason I prefer tubes is because I can top up empty pans in my paint box from a source that is wet rather than dry. It also makes it easier to squeeze a little blob onto my palette. It is handy to squeeze little blobs of each of my chosen primaries around the edge of my palette before I start mixing. This makes it easier to mix colours ready to use.

Pans Pans can be hard work as the paint is dried and hardened. You can sometimes spend ages trying to get a little paint off to place on your palette ready for mixing. This is especially so with weak pigments like Burnt Sienna, Manganese Blue Hue and Cobalt. However, here is a very useful little tip. You can soften the paint a little first by putting a couple of drops of water, via a pipette, onto the pan and leaving it to soak in for a little while or spray it with water. When using pans you may need extra media, such as Gum Arabic, if you work in wetter style. If using mostly dry brush technique for your work, pans should suit you fine. Winsor & Newton advise against using tube paints to fill pans but I have never had any problems with doing this. This is because my pans are contained in a sealed wooden box when not in use.

HOW I CHOSE MY PALETTE AND WHY IT WORKS FOR ME

I spent a long time researching and trying out different pigments before I settled on my present palette. It was a costly exercise but worth the trip as I eventually stumbled upon what I now call my perfect essential palette. This journey took me through a few wellknown brand names. At first I bought a few Sennelier pans to add to the Winsor & Newton pigments already in my paint box. I really liked the Sennelier colours and used to mix them with Winsor & Newton for a time. Sennelier’s selection of colour pigments is wonderful but as I learned more about transparency I chose to include more Winsor & Newton colours and stick to one brand. I found some pigments a little sticky and liable to leak if stored in tubes, and some colours weak on pigment intensity which was a little frustrating for me, but some botanical artists love them! It’s all down to personal choice at the end of the day. Once I had settled on the palette of colours I liked, I replaced all my pans with tubes as they ran out. My paint box still contains pans (plus many tools of the trade!) but now I prefer to fill them from a tube. They keep very well and only need a little water to wake them up. I chose to use tubes as I prefer the intensity of pigment and the ease with which they flow.

The colours in my chosen palette The yellows: • Winsor Lemon is a cool yellow. Use it with French Ultramarine for cool greens or Indanthrene Blue and a little Permanent Rose for mixing lichen or silvery greens.

Transparent Yellow is a cool/warm yellow. Use it with any blue or • red to make bright but slightly warmer mixes. • Indian Yellow is a warm, bright yellow. Great mixed with Scarlet Lake, Permanent Carmine or Quinacridone Red for bright reds and oranges. Thinned with water it makes a lovely pale cream. • Quinacridone Gold is a warm yellow suitable for golden autumn colour mixes. Mix it with Winsor Violet to make some wonderful beige tones. Mix with blue for earthy greens and olive tones. The reds: • Quinacridone Red is warm and bright. It makes a beautiful range of oranges and muted purples when mixed with Indian Yellow or Winsor Blue Red Shade. • Permanent Rose is a cool/warm red. Useful for adding to green mixes and for those lovely soft pinks or warm reds. • Permanent Carmine is a cool/warm deep, rich red. You can make rich purple, mauve and orange mixes when you add it to Winsor Blue Red Shade or Indian Yellow. • Quinacridone Magenta is a cool/warm red. When mixed with a cool yellow or cool blue you will get lovely bright mixes. Mix it with Phthalo Turquoise or French Ultramarine to make bright violets or use Winsor Blue Red Shade for a more muted mauve. • Scarlet Lake, recently added to my palette, has really bright qualities. Great for overlaying to enhance, as well as mixing bright orange tones. The blues: • Cobalt Blue is a cool blue. It is great mixed with Winsor Lemon for bright cool greens and with Quinacridone Gold for mossy greens.

• French Ultramarine is a cool blue and granulates. It is a bright addition to green mixes and makes beautiful purples when mixed with Quinacridone Magenta. • Winsor Blue Green Shade (cool) and Winsor Blue Red Shade (warm) are good all-rounder blues. They can be added to any red or yellow to make wonderful strong colour mixes. • Phthalo Turquoise, recently added, is a cool vivid pigment on the green side. Perfect for bright green and mauve/purple. • Indanthrene Blue is a dark, rich cool/warm blue. It is a little darker without having added black pigments, like Indigo, which will dull mixes due to being opaque. Mix it with Transparent Yellow for rich greens. Use it with yellow and red to make rich dark browns. Other lovely pigments I use: Winsor Violet is a great addition to a palette of colours. Mix it with any yellow and red to make great browns. When mixed with yellow and lots of water, a huge array of beige tones can be made. Add a red or Burnt Sienna and Transparent Yellow to Winsor Violet to make a rusty brown. Indanthrene Blue, Transparent Yellow and Permanent Rose also make gorgeous browns and a perfect true black.

Very lightfast = I or A Lightfast = II or AA

My palette of colours.

SAVING YOUR MONEY

Every colour apart from the primaries can be mixed with a selection of primary pigments, except ones that contain brighteners or pigments that contain fluorescence. Winsor Violet contains a few brighteners but you can mix a very close match by using

Quinacridone Magenta and Phthalo Turquoise. Sometimes it’s just nice to use Winsor Violet as it is a single pigment colour! It is a superb underlay colour, as you will see later in this book. When I paint I build up colour in many layers. Transparent pigments work best for this method. Opaque pigments just flatten colour and translucence is lost. Cadmiums are opaque and so are many others. Always check the maker’s chart first. In the next section I am going to discuss the difference it makes when you mix your own colours rather than using ready-mixed pigment colours. Orange is a secondary colour made with red and yellow so we don’t need to buy orange! Winsor Orange is a semi-opaque orange which is quite vivid. Many bright oranges can be made with transparent/ semi-transparent pigments and will be vibrant but also translucent when layered in painting, not thick and flat looking. It all adds to create depth and realism. See Chapter 3 – ‘All about red and orange’. When painting very vivid flowers it’s not just a case of matching the flower colour, it’s also about keeping your highlights and shadows in check. Cobalt Violet is semi-transparent and a pigment which is very vivid. Some artists may choose it for this quality. Many lovely purple and mauve mixes are possible when you mix primaries. As previously mentioned Phthalo Turquoise and Quinacridone Magenta make perfect bright purples and mauves. You can even make Winsor Violet using these two pigments and it is just as bright as the original. Lilac tones can be achieved by adding water, retaining highlights and painting shadows carefully. All

greens can be mixed with primaries too. No need to buy Permanent Sap Green, Olive Green, Hooker’s Green or Perylene Green. Even some of the most vivid green pigments like Viridian can be mixed. Viridian, Hooker’s Green and Sap Green are not actually that natural looking. So, why do you need them for botanical painting? In fact you don’t really need to buy any greens. Rather than look for a perfect green on the shop shelf, it would be better to look at the green of the plant you are trying to match and assess which primaries you need to get a more natural mix. You will never match nature to a tube. Instead, look for the right blue and yellow balance then add a tiny bit of red. To make a leaf look realistic, where colour is concerned, it isn’t all about just matching the leaf colour. A leaf has many tones and shades of green and its surface will vary in coolness and warmth. Mixing yourself is much more fun and more accurate! Payne’s Grey  and Neutral Tint  contain black pigment and are semi-opaque and opaque. They will flatten and dull your painting. Why not just mix them yourself using transparent primaries! Payne’s Grey is on the blue side. It’s almost the same as mixing Indigo. Neutral Tint is a grey/black. Both can be made from French Ultramarine, Winsor Lemon and Permanent Rose. These three pigments will make a perfect grey/black or blue/black and they will be transparent. Just try it and see!

A few ready-made pigments you can mix I have rendered a few examples later in this section just to show you it is possible to use transparent/semi-transparent pigments to match any colour, even the awkward ones like Viridian. As well as my usual palette of colours, I have added two more pigments to achieve a few of these awkward colours on my example. These two are New Gamboge and Perylene Violet. You will see in the chart at the end of this section, my mixes on the left side and the Winsor & Newton true colours in the right column. Let’s talk about these a little. Raw Sienna  PY42, PR101 is a natural warm yellow/beige pigment. I had to buy a half pan to test this one, as I don’t have the colour in my collection. I found it quite difficult to use or even mix with. It tends to bubble up when taking it off the pan. A tube may be better but to be honest, it is easy to mix a good match with the pigments noted later in this section. Quinacridone Gold  PR206, PV19, PY150 is one of my favourite colours but it is made from three colour index pigments, a red, a violet and a yellow. It is a good warm yellow and really useful if mixing muted/earthy colours. The three colour index pigments will dull the mix when added to other colours. It does have a little brightness to it as it contains PY150, which is also used to make Transparent Yellow. When I teach beige and brown mixing on my online course I ask students to use Winsor

Violet and a range of yellows to make beige tones, plus adding a little red to turn it brown. Now that rings a bell! It seems Quinacridone Gold is a yellow brown when you look at the colour indexes. Red PR206, violet PV19 (= blue and red) and yellow PY150. No wonder this makes brown when added to Winsor Violet! Winsor Orange  PO62 is a bright orange pigment and when painted straight from the tube appears opaque but it is semiopaque. You can see from the thickness of the pigment that it will not be translucent when applied and will also be hard to layer smoothly. I made this orange by mixing from Scarlet Lake, Winsor Lemon and a little Indian Yellow. It is so close you can hardly see the difference. When applied to a painting it will be vibrant as well as translucent. My advice is to use primaries to achieve bright orange mixes. Burnt Sienna  PR101 is another of my favourite pigments. I love the earthy red tone it has. It is a single pigment colour and transparent. It can be mixed with the pigments noted at the end of this section but to be honest I would just use it from the tube. One pigment colour index is better than three! Perylene Maroon  PR179 is a beautiful strong burgundy pigment and transparent. Mix it with any strong blue and you will make black. This is because its bias is to the yellow side and red, yellow and blue in the right balance

make black. It is possible to mix this colour and get a very close match. I used Perylene Violet (a blue/red) and Scarlet Lake (a yellow/red) to make it. It is practically a perfect match! Again I would use it straight from the tube as one index colour is better than two. Perylene Violet  PV29 is another of my loved colours and it is transparent. Some things in nature and plants just sing out for this colour. I see it in Hellebores and plants that have a violet/burgundy hue in their stalks or leaves. It is easily mixed with Permanent Rose, Indanthrene Blue and Transparent Yellow. But again I would use this straight from the tube as with Burnt Sienna, as Perylene Violet has one pigment colour index. Winsor Violet  PV23 is perfect for using as an underlay on deep shadows for subjects like conkers, which have a very rich colour. Winsor Violet is transparent so will show through layers and create an instant deep shadow. It is useful for making beautiful beige tones when mixed with different yellows and watered down. You can mix Winsor Violet with Phthalo Turquoise and Quinacridone Magenta if you so wish. Olive Green  PY65, PB15:16, PR101 is the most natural looking of all the greens I’ve chosen for my test. This is probably because it has some red pigment in it, PR101. It was extremely easy to match using Winsor

Blue Green Shade and Quinacridone Gold. One thing to note here is that Quinacridone Gold is made up of three colour index pigments but despite that it doesn’t dull the mix too much. So, the only reason not to buy Olive Green is to avoid the expense if you already have Winsor Blue Green Shade and Quinacridone Gold. Many beautiful greens can be made with primaries as you will see later in the section 'All about greens'. Permanent Sap Green  PY110, PG36 is a rather unnatural looking green on its own but mixed with a little Permanent Rose it is better. It is very easy to match using Phthalo Turquoise and Transparent Yellow. Mixing your own greens will result in far better matches for botanical painting, so I would say you just don’t need to buy this colour! Hooker’s Green  PY110, PG36 is again not a very natural green but some like it. It has the same pigment index colours as Sap Green but with less yellow and more green. It was easy to match with Winsor Blue Green Shade and New Gamboge. It is difficult to get a smooth wash with it as with Raw Sienna, it bubbles up when removed from the pan. The mix I used is made up of PY150, PR209 New Gamboge and PB16 Winsor Blue Green Shade. There is no difference at all between my mix and the actual pigment so, if you already have New Gamboge and Winsor Blue Green Shade there is no need to buy it!

Perylene Green  PBk31 is a lovely rich dark green but granulates. Surprisingly it is transparent despite being made from a black index number. It can be matched easily using primaries. Indanthrene Blue, Transparent Yellow and Permanent Rose were perfect for the job. When my students first attempt making black with primaries they often end up with Perylene Green as they have added too much yellow and blue and not enough red to the mix. So, just make a black mix but get the balance wrong and hey presto, you’ll have Perylene Green! Perylene Green could serve as a good darkener. Again it only has one colour index, so it would be better to use Perylene Green. Viridian  PG18 is a vivid very cold green reminiscent of Malachite, a mineral. It is a granulating pigment and in history contained arsenic. Now it is made with hydrated chromium oxide. It is the most difficult pigment to paint with, due to its lack of intensity. The lack of pigment suggests to me that you could use it in thin layers and build it up slowly. You can make beautiful pale cool greys by adding a little red but beware, it does separate when mixed with other pigments. My mix of Phthalo Turquoise and Winsor Lemon flows better and it is much easier to get a smooth effect. Indigo  PBk6, PV19, PB15 is a much-loved colour. A rich dark blue but it is opaque. It can be easily mixed with three primaries, Indanthrene Blue, Permanent Rose

and Transparent Yellow. The primaries mix is not quite as bright but if you want translucence then use the three-way mix. It is a black mix with a little more blue added. Payne’s Grey  PBk6, PV19, PB15 is a semiopaque pigment and staining. It is made up of the same index colours as Indigo but with a little more blue added. Landscape artists favour it and sometimes it is used as an alternative to black. It can be made easily with Indanthrene Blue, Permanent Rose and Transparent Yellow. This is also a black mix on the blue side with a tiny bit more yellow. Black  While thinking about this, why not try mixing your own transparent black? All ready-made blacks are opaque. Indanthrene Blue, Permanent Rose and Transparent Yellow make a truly rich black. It takes practice to make but it’s so worth it! When making a black mix with primaries you use mostly blue 70 per cent, about 20 per cent red and 10 per cent yellow depending on the pigments chosen. Different primaries will all make black but there will be subtle differences. When using French Ultramarine, Winsor Lemon and Quinacridone Magenta, this will make a cool grey/black as the pigments are weaker in intensity. For a warmer black change Transparent Yellow to Quinacridone Gold. Keep this in mind when mixing darker colours like a holly green or a rich dark blue. You can make a holly green or dark blue with Permanent Rose and Transparent Yellow and Indanthrene Blue by adding a bit more blue and yellow and less red. If you try this both colour mixes will be transparent in their makeup!

White  … who needs white anyway? The paper is white. Adding white pigment to your mix will flatten your painting, as white paint is opaque. Water is used to make tints. However, some botanical artists will use a little white gouache on occasion for painting fine hairs or tiny highlights. They would not necessarily use watercolour to do this, as it is weak on intensity. Gouache has more substance. I use Dr Ph Martin’s Bleed Proof White. I find this easier to use than gouache as it stays white when applied. Gouache can fade a little as it dries. Trying to place another fine tiny line in exactly the same place to strengthen it up can be almost impossible. You would probably need to be a brain surgeon to achieve this!

Magnolia seed pod.

It is best to add some colour to white paint as you will find hairs or veins are never absolutely white. White is also opaque and will

stick out like a sore thumb if not toned a little with watercolour. On my painting I added the pale green mix of the Magnolia to the white first. White paint can be used effectively with a fine-pointed brush. Ensure the mix has the correct consistency of water to pigment first. Generally, it is a creamy mixture, not too thick or watery. This is quite a tricky technique that needs a lot of practice. The baby Magnolia Grandiflora seed pod was exactly the right subject to try this out on.

Greater Knapweed – 'painting in the negative' technique was applied to centre hairs.

The tip of the pod had a furry texture with very fine hairs. (See closeup photo.) Use white sparingly and, if possible, try not to use it to make paler tints as they will be opaque.

There is a technique called ‘painting in the negative’. For this technique you would leave the hairs free of paint and paint the shadows between them. The centre of this Great Knapweed crosssection was painted in this way. Delicate and fiddly work! White paint will be necessary if painting on mottled vellum or coloured paper, for highlights and lighter areas. Selecting pigments to mix comes with experience. Understanding how your pigments work is important and you will get to know your pigments’ capabilities over time. Just try it – you won’t be disappointed! MATCHING READY MIXED PIGMENTS WITH PRIMARIES

MIXING WITH PRIMARIES Once I began to mix with primaries I realized that it yielded a far more natural and realistic result in botanical painting. This is especially so when using transparent or semi-transparent pigments. The vibrancy and depth when painting in layers is second to none. Many budding botanical artists will visit a store to buy a range of colours or they may have been given a set as a gift. The excitement can lead to buying an unnecessary amount of paints. Visiting an art

store often feels like stepping into a sweet shop, so I don’t blame you! Without prior knowledge of how pigments work that selection can be misinformed. We’ve all been there! Professional botanical artists will select colour according to their experience and make suggestions on which pigments to buy. Each will work with their own personal selected palette after much trial and error. It has taken a long time for us to reach this stage. My essential palette has been researched and put together over three years before deciding it worked perfectly for me. With the knowledge gained from this book, you will have the necessary information to make your own selections.

There are millions of colours out there, how can we possibly mix all of them? In colour mixing, as with other habits, we often find a sense of security in picking up the same favoured pigments, or laying out the same colours on the palette to begin with. By limiting ourselves to a primary palette we will create new colours by

practising and finding new ways of mixing our favourites!

I never met a colour I didn’t like. Dale Chihuly

It is essential for a botanical artist to know the index colours, transparency and lightfastness of their pigments. This is especially important if work is to be exhibited and sold. Understanding how the pigment behaves when it is mixed with others is also good knowledge to have and I hope to help you with this.

What happened there then…? There are pigments that do not behave as expected. Phthalo Turquoise and Scarlet Lake are both bright transparent pigments but when mixed together they make a muddy brown/burgundy. Not what you would expect from two vivid pigments! There is a reason for this. Scarlet Lake is close to the actual primary red but with a yellow bias. Therefore, when adding it to Phthalo Turquoise, which is a blue towards the green end of the spectrum, not only are we mixing blue and red but a great deal of green too. No wonder it looks muddy! However, mix Phthalo Turquoise with a cool/warm red like Quinacridone Magenta, a colour closer to the blue spectrum, and you will get a really vibrant set of purples and violets. As I mentioned previously some pigments are stronger than others in intensity. With

practice you will get to know your pigments’ strengths and weaknesses and adjust your mixing accordingly. There is further explanation of this dilemma in the section about ‘Colour temperature’ in Chapter 2.

Colour charts by Susan Brunner.

Mix all primaries together and you will make various colours like brown and other earthy tones, depending on the balance. With every set of warm or cool primaries you select, the mixes will vary from brighter to more earthy tones as you will see in the study charts here (by student Susan Brunner). It all depends on the bias and balance of the pigments you mix together. The first part of these exercise charts mix blue and yellow making many greens. Next red and yellow are mixed to make tones

from orange to pink. The third, red and blue to make mauve and purple. The last uses all three primaries making muted and botanical grey tones. You will see that all make a really great range of colours in different tones. This is a good exercise to do if you are new to mixing with primaries to check the different effects. Red and yellow will make beautiful oranges and reds. Mix a little blue into the subject and you’ll end up with various browns, depending how much you add. Change the balance of all three pigments and you will create some useful neutral toned mixes too. Red and blue make mauve, purple and violet. Add in yellow and again you will end up with a range of browns or black. However, if you only add a little bit of yellow you’ll make some beautiful muted burgundy/maroon colours. Blue and yellow make endless green mixes, but when you add red to your mix you will get a range of olive greens. Add more red and you will make various browns. However, adding just the tiniest amount of red to your green mix will look far closer to the greens you find in nature.

But I like brown... For dark browns use mostly blue and red and add a little yellow. For middle browns use mostly yellow and red and add a little blue. Change this mix by adding a little more red than yellow and a rusty brown colour will appear. Make a dark or middle brown and water it down a lot, you will be making beige and tan tones.

Physalis, a painting done with three pigments only.

The painting of Physalis was done when I first started botanical painting. I had joined a small botanical society locally to learn and paint with others. The whole thing was painted with only three pigments; French Ultramarine, Permanent Rose and Winsor Lemon. Annie Morris, a well-known botanical artist who painted with the group, suggested I use these three from my small palette of colours. She told me that it was possible to paint everything with just three primaries. She was so right! Since that time I have never looked back although my palette does now contain a few more sets of primaries than at the beginning! For the painting of a Photinia autumn leaf on the next page I used nine primaries and one other colour with different temperatures. A few of these were also used as overlay glazes. Scarlet Lake was one of them. All pigments were transparent/semi-transparent and lightfast. The result is great and there is more about how I painted this piece in the ‘Colour Enhancement’ section in Chapter 4. It is possible to paint a whole painting using only six primaries.

In this way you would select a palette best suited to your subject, generally one warm and one cool of each primary. For the Photinia painting I chose a set of warm and some slightly cooler primaries. Warm because the subject is generally warm. These were Winsor Blue Red Shade – warm, Winsor Blue Green Shade – cool, Quinacridone Red – warm, Permanent Rose – cool to warm, Transparent Yellow – cool to warm, Indian Yellow – warm. I added one more pigment, Winsor Violet, to use for the enhancement of strongly highlighted areas. Of the ten pigments used for this leaf, three of them were only used as overlay and underlay colours, Scarlet Lake, French Ultramarine and Winsor Violet. One other, Indanthrene Blue, was only used to aid mixing the dark brown/black for the midrib vein and darker blemish details. Essentially, mixing with primaries really opens up a new world and with practice you can mix any colour you desire!

Why is my mix looking muddy and dull? KEY: WBRS – Winsor Blue Red Shade, WBGS – Winsor Blue Green Shade, FU – French Ultramarine, WL – Winsor Lemon, TY – Transparent Yellow, IY – Indian Yellow, PR – Permanent Rose, QM – Quinacridone Magenta

Using a three-way mix you can alter the brightness and dullness of colours. If your mixes are always looking muddy then you may just have the wrong choice of primaries, adding too much of the third primary or using opaque pigments. Endless colours can be mixed with three primaries. Every threeway colour mix you use will give you brighter colours as well as

muted/earthy tones. Two primaries will give you more definite brighter tones unless using ‘shade’ value pigments. The next images give examples of mixes from cool primaries, a mix-up of warm and cool primaries and a warm set of primaries. Depending on the balance of each mix, brighter and duller mixes can be made. If you only mix two pigments together you will get bright mixes from all these primary variations.

FU, WL AND QM – cool tones.

WBGS, TY and QM – cool and cool/warm tones.

WBRS, IY, PR – warm and cool/warm tones.

Example 1. FU, WL and QM – cool muted tones.

Example 2. WBGS (cool), TY (cool/warm) and QM (cool) – mixed warm and cool muted tones.

Example 3. WBRS (warm), IY (warm) and PR (cool/warm) – mixed warm and cool muted tones.

If you add a little of the third primary the colours start to mute down a little, depending how much you add. The more you add of the third primary, the more muted and darker the mixes become. See how they change in Examples 1, 2 and 3!

Example 4.

If you add even more of all three primaries you will be mixing all manner of brown, burgundy, brown/green and black, as in Example 4.

Student matching colours to a Hellebore.

CHAPTER 3

‘Seeing’ Colour and Tricky Mixes RECOGNIZING HOW WE ‘SEE’ COLOUR The human eye can see millions of colours. But we don’t all see these colours in the same way. From childhood our brains are trained to see colour at face value but the artist has to train the brain to see all the colours available to him. As Betty Edwards states in her book Color: ‘Our brains “know”, for example, that skies are blue, clouds are white, blond hair is yellow and trees are green with brown trunks. These fixed ideas, largely formed in childhood, are very difficult to set aside, causing a person to look at a tree, for example, without really seeing it.’

Greater Knapweed dissected flower by Jackie Isard.

Training the brain Before we start colour mixing it is important for an artist to light the subject, study the subject carefully and train the eye to recognize all those individual tints, shades and tonal values. A simple method to help with this is given in the next section, ‘An exercise to “see” colour’. Try to ignore your brain and you will see all these varying tones. Rather than selecting a pigment that is closest in tone to the subject, you will hopefully be choosing suitable warm or cool

primaries to mix it with. You will be adding in all the in-between colours which will make your painting more realistic. You will have a better understanding of values across a subject to create even colour temperature transition.

If one says “red” – the name of colour – and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different. Joseph Albers

Recognizing values The values of colour are important to recognize so that form and depth can be achieved. Value is the lightness or darkness of colour. If your values are not accurate in painting then the painting will look flat and lifeless. Values can be assessed by comparing them to a grey scale. See Chapter 4 ‘Colour and Tonal Values’ for more detail.

VALUES DIAGRA.

In drawing, value is a series of shades from white to black. When colour mixing, these values do not just come in the form of tints or shades of one colour. Any subject will have many different colour variations. For instance, a red flower will have purple/mauve, red, orange, yellow and maybe even almost no colour or a very deep, dark shade if the lighting is very contrasted. It is not just about lightness and darkness. In the coloured bars here you will see all of these colour variations. From the deepest, darkest shadow to the brightest highlight.

There is a logic of colours, and it is with this alone, and not with the logic of the brain, that the painter should conform. Paul Cézanne

How light changes colours The less light there is available, the less colour we can see. Inside our eyes the retina is laden with cones and rods. Cones see colour and rods greys. Reflected light from anything activates the cones and send signals to our brain enabling us to see colour. In dark or dull light there is little to no light reflected so the cones do not activate, only the rods. To enable us to see colour more accurately, a constant light source is needed. Light changes colour, as does darkness. Daylight varies across time and can alter your painting subject colours greatly, as we all

know. Short of only painting for a two-hour slot (which is not what we really want to do!) or moving your painting area constantly, we need a solution to make this easier. The answer is to light your subject with a constant light source. Working in the field makes this a great deal more difficult as we are dependent on the sun and yes, it moves around the sky. So, how do we deal with this? Basically, unless you can paint very quickly, when working in the field I would advise you to only make botany studies, watercolour mix references plus a few drawn and painted studies. This way you have a good record to use for composition and colour rendering later. Take lots of reference photographs too from different angles and of botany details so you have a detailed story of the plant.

How colours affect one another – contrast Colour can also be affected by what surrounds it. Surfaces reflect onto a subject and other things around your subject, for instance objects on your desk. They will all have an effect. Values are important to establish whether two colours beside each other are working. The illustration shows six coloured circles, each with a grey square inside it. The grey square is the same colour on all circles yet, when you look at them, they appear to be darker or lighter. So, how does this affect our colour mixing and painting?

Effects of colour on colour.

A darker area will make a mid-tone colour next to it appear lighter. A mid-tone colour similar in value to the grey will have little effect but a lighter colour will make the grey appear darker than it is. You may come across this when adjusting colour mixes to create mid-tones and light tones. Achieving good values is crucial to show depth and form, and you will often need to go darker or lighter than you think. The bar diagram on the previous page shows the changes across a red subject; by adding yellow and orange highlights and purple/mauve low lights to a red flower, realism and depth are achieved.

‘Seeing’ colour

A few of you may have been taught to make colour charts with billions of varying coloured squares. Phew!… what a lot of really quite hard work. However, if you really struggle with colour and are an absolute beginner, it can be a very good exercise to learn from and you can keep them to refer to. If you do prefer colour charts then make sure you do a graduation from dark to pale in each square rather than just a solid mix. It will assist you with lighter values in subjects. It is not necessarily essential to make endless charts though. The seven charts in the ‘Mixing with Primaries’ section would be adequate to give you a good overview. Practising mixing with primaries will help you to understand the process and remember how to mix similar colours in the future. There are a few simple tips here to help you on your way. It’s really more to do with understanding how to work with your colours. Now, if you have quite a good eye for colour already then use it and if not, I’m hoping I will be able to teach you how to use your ‘seeing eye’ by reading my book. I always work out the colours required and my approach to mixing them before I even think about starting to paint. I study the plant subject for some time and make colour swatches of what I call ‘base colours’. Those colours that are more obvious to the eye. This gives me a good map to work with although the swatch is added to quite a bit as the painting progresses. This is the first important information to have in your mind. I keep the swatches in a box for future reference too. These act as my personal style of chart. When making a swatch remember to make a note of what you have added to each mix as an aide-memoire. I generally list the colours used in order of quantity.

We see no colour in its pure state, but every hue is variously intermingled with others even when it is uninfluenced by other colours; the effect of light and shade modifies it in various ways, so that it undergoes alterations and appears unlike itself. Thus bodies seen in shade or in light, in more pronounced or softer sunshine, with their surfaces inclined this way and that, with every change exhibit a different colour. Aristotle

Making a swatch To truly ‘see’ colour you need to practise looking hard and deep at your subject and test mixes on a swatch of your watercolour paper. Do this for all the colours you need to match throughout painting. Let them dry thoroughly before you decide, as wet paint looks different to dry paint. They may need a little adjusting. If you have made the primary charts in ‘Mixing with Primaries’ section, you will already have a perfect tool to find which primaries are suitable for your mixes. Otherwise, finding the right combination of primaries starts by gauging temperature and making a mental description of what you are looking at. For instance, you may describe it as ‘a muddy mauve/purple with a yellow bias’ – to create this you would need to use a yellow bias red like Perylene Maroon with a little yellow and blue. Or you may think it is ‘a pale creamy apricot’ – for this you would need a warm yellow and a little warm red, Indian Yellow and Quinacridone Red. A green could be described as ‘a bright yellow/green’ – for this you would need a cool blue and a

bright cool/warm yellow, Winsor Blue Green Shade and Transparent Yellow. Describe it to yourself fully before you go to your palette. It will help you to select the pigments to create the colour you are looking, and recognize temperature differences. Use my pigment colour wheel to help you.

Muddy colours come from warmer and darker pigments and bright mixes come from lighter, more saturated pigments. Of course, as mentioned before, remember that the more of the third primary you add, the more muted the mix becomes. Understanding colour temperature described in this book will also help you recognize more easily what you are aiming for. The next section, ‘An exercise to see colour’, will help you see the colours across your subject more accurately. Charts can be useful as a reminder of how pigments behave when mixed and making these can be part of your learning process. Another good exercise is to make a large sheet of random mixes using various cool and warm and warm/cool primaries, and see what you can create. This is one of the exercises I ask my students to do on my colour course. It opens up a whole new world to them! There is a little more to this, as we all see colour differently. That’s why swatch making is a good option. Matching the swatch to your subject will give you a good idea if you have the mix just right. But how do you adjust it if it’s wrong? The answer is to look at the colour you’ve mixed and ask yourself whether it looks too blue, red or yellow. Add a little of the colour you believe to be missing to adjust the mix. For instance: you may have mixed a purple which looks too blue and not quite muted enough, add more red to counteract the blue and add a little yellow to mute it down. You may have mixed a green which is too intensely yellow, add more blue to counteract the yellow and a little tiny bit of red to dull the intensity. It may only be the tiniest change but will make all the difference to your mix!

Look, see and test! It is helpful to practise noticing those subtle differences when mixing by checking and rechecking your mix against a live subject. Making a tint of a mix to help you to see more clearly whether it is too blue, red or yellow. For green mixes it helps to take a little of your mix and water it down, then test it on watercolour paper. Let it dry thoroughly before deciding. This will tell you whether it has the correct balance. This is an especially good exercise to do when mixing dark colours and greens, but applies to all colour mixing generally.

HOW CAN WE ‘SEE’ COLOUR? A good exercise to help you to see the colour detail of your subject more closely is to make a peep hole. Use a hole punch to make a small hole in a piece of your watercolour painting paper. Size is up to you. It can be used as a swatch to test colour mixes on. You can study any subject you are painting in this way. Use the hole to isolate areas then mix each colour you see or use this tool whilst you are painting to take a closer look. If you try this out over a small area of a subject you will see the different tones of warm and cool colours more easily. It works in a similar way to a magnifying glass but at first it is easier to see the colour temperature variations when they are isolated to a smaller area.

Peep hole.

How to use a peep hole Hold it at your normal reading distance. Close one eye and look through the hole, moving it around small areas of your subject. Concentrate well and try to see all the different colours. As you move it around you will be amazed at how many colours there are on just one single piece of a leaf or flower. You can mix and test on the side of the peep hole and check as you go by holding your mix up to the subject. Use it while you paint to get a more accurate view until you’ve trained your eyes to see more accurately those subtle differences. If you can make all those varying tones and add them

into your painting, it will come alive. There is more about this in the ‘Colour temperature transition’ section in Chapter 4. On the next page I will show you some of my students’ achievements and would recommend doing this exercise to improve your mixing and colour recognition skills.

Flower colour study by Renata Barilli.

The photo shows a study sheet made of a rose by one of my online students, Renata Barilli. She used a peep hole to find all the colours. It is a good example of how many colours can be found

when you really look carefully at your subject.

Rhubarb colour study by Vicky Sharman.

Another student, Vicky Sharman, has made a wonderful study sheet of rhubarb. The work shows that she has searched out all the varying tones and shades necessary to paint the subject. All mixed with primaries. Her painted tests of the stalk and leaf are superb.

Rhododendron swatch by Nathalie Wallace.

This Rhododendron leaf swatch, by Nathalie Wallace, again shows that she has recognized a great deal of tones and mixes for this leaf. She has explored the subject brilliantly. She has also made some underlay colour tests to see how her mixes would be affected by doing this. This is always a good exercise to do.

Colour swatch by Sue Stuart.

The next swatch and painting is of a fallen leaf, found outside the house by student Sue Stuart. Sue made her swatch using primary mixes and consulted me on what to use as underlay colours. This swatch would have been adapted a little as the work progressed, but making a swatch like this gives you a very good starting point to work with.

Autumn leaf watercolour by Sue Stuart.

Sue was a student on my Fine Details and Finishing Techniques course, which also covers some advanced colour mixing. She has used her swatch to guide her and painted the leaf exquisitely! This work is also a great example of how to use underlay colours to enhance and overlays to create vibrancy. More about these techniques in Chapter 4. So, when you start your next painting, consider doing these exercises to help you along your way!

FINDING THOSE BASE TONES – WHERE DO I START?

In this section I will discuss how to find what I call those ‘base tones’. Base tones are the first colours you see when you look at a subject. For instance, the purple Geranium flower here (purely a graphic example). On face value it is a blue violet (3) but look closer and a mixture of warm and cool variations will be seen. The centre of the flower has purple/red lines emanating from the centre and a creamy white background (7, 10, 11). The anthers are dark purple/mauve (8, 9). These will be our base colours. Continuing from this we would then search out the other warmer and cooler tones (1, 2, 4–6) by looking more carefully and studying it with a magnifying glass or a peep hole as mentioned on the previous page. We would adjust these tones on our palette by adding a little more warm red or cool blue as needed. Not yellow, as that would make the mix go grey. However, we may need a little yellow for shadow tones on the petals where they overlap or crease. There is a swatch example in the ‘Botanical Greys and Shadow Colours’ section coming up. It is really subtle but so worth it for a good end result! BASE TONE DIAGRAM

We should also consider underlying colour to enhance. Looking

closely at the illustration, pale tints of French Ultramarine and Permanent Rose would enhance areas of coolness and warmth on areas A and B. This is discussed more in the ‘Colour Enhancement’ section in Chapter 4.

Colour is mysterious, eluding definition; it is a subjective experience, a cerebral sensation depending on three related and essential factors: light, an object and an observer. Enid Verity

ALL ABOUT GREENS Why is mixing green so hard? Green can seem the most difficult colour to mix and match when painting botanical. It seems to be there to test us and the most difficult to match correctly. Using a ready-mixed green can sometimes be the answer to your prayers, but if you think about what was said in the ‘Pigments you could probably do without’ section and in particular refer to the last page, you will see that tube greens are not really a very good match to nature.

The many colours of green leaves.

The problem with some ready-mixed greens is that they need mixing with something else to get a realistic colour match to a plant. Why not start with primaries instead? Creating your own green chart with different blues and yellows will help you to see the huge range of greens that are possible. When making it, ensure you add tints (lighter tones) of each mix and a row that adds a little red to the mix. Also consider the intensity value of each pigment first when making a chart. When using a strong pigment like Winsor Blue Green Shade, less blue will be needed to achieve a middle tone green. With Cobalt Blue, a weak pigment, you will need more blue pigment to yellow. As I said previously, green mixes are far more natural when a tiny little bit of red is added to the blue/yellow, unless using blue and yellow with a red bias. It’s a subtle change but makes all the

difference. If creating a green chart, look at the example under ‘Making green charts’ later in this chapter. To make darker tones of green, when painting just add a little more blue and red to your green mix. If you do this you will achieve a perfect botanical grey/green. Leaves also have shades and tints as they are not always the same tone of green all over. The greens will vary across a subject. Leaves often have a blue side (dark) and a warmer yellow side (light). Adding shades and tints to your painting will ensure realism, depth and form. Depending on the balance of blue to yellow, the warmth and coolness of the pigment and the amount of red added, many variations will become apparent to you. From the palest greens right down to the darkest. To increase your chart colour variations you could take this further by adding a little more red to your green mixes to make some beautiful brown/greens. The world is your oyster! Transparent/semi-transparent pigments are best for greens and all mixes generally. A green mix needs to be translucent so that depth and form can be created with layers of varying tones of green and underlayers of yellow and blue. Opaque pigments, as I mentioned previously, will dull a mix and make it look flat.

Primrose leaf study by Hilde De Hondt.

In the example by student Hilde, you will see some of the colours she has found within a young primrose leaf. Hilde has even found a few shadow tones and made all her mixes with red, blue and yellow pigments. Warm and cool primaries have been used to achieve all these mixes.

Matching leaves to a green chart.

So where do we go from here… Let’s take a few examples to explain the process. The illustration shows a simple chart I made using six blues and four yellows. Top left is a cool silvery Euphorbia leaf, which matched closely to the Cobalt Blue and Winsor Lemon mix. Cobalt Blue is a cool paler blue and a less intense pigment, as is Winsor Lemon. Adding just a hint of red would make this match perfect. Mixing French Ultramarine with Winsor Lemon instead of Cobalt will also give you cool greens. Change the blue to Winsor Blue Red or Green Shade, add a little red and a whole range of natural greens will become apparent. Experimenting with slightly warmer yellows such as New Gamboge or Quinacridone Gold will give you a whole range of warmer greens and olive greens. Even making a simple chart with a range of blue and yellow pigments will give you a lovely range of greens to choose

from.

Adding red to greens A more saturated blue will make brighter mixes if using a cool or cool/warm yellow. For instance, Winsor Blue Red Shade, a warm blue, mixed with Transparent Yellow will make a bright warm emerald green. However, mix Transparent Yellow with Winsor Blue Green Shade, which has a green bias (cool), the mix becomes a vivid cool emerald. Add a tiny bit of Permanent Rose to Winsor Blue Red Shade or Winsor Blue Green Shade mixed with a variety of yellows and you’ll get a beautiful range of lichen, moss and olive greens. Aren’t they just gorgeous!

Mixing olive and lichen green Olive and lichen greens are generally blue and yellow with red added to the mix. Transparent Yellow and French Ultramarine make good olive greens, but so do Indanthrene Blue and Winsor Lemon. All these olive greens will vary slightly. Add a warmer yellow like Transparent Yellow and the olive green becomes warmer. Add a very warm yellow like Indian Yellow and the mix becomes a brown/green. In fact, the way to turn any green mix to an olive or lichen green is to add a tiny bit more red than you would if just adding red to enhance the natural tone of the green. In the images below we see some mixes using Winsor Blue Green Shade, four different yellows and three different reds. On the right the first row

has more blue than yellow, Windsor Lemon (WL) and a bit of each red, Permanent Rose (PR), Quinacridone Red (QR) and Quinacridone Magenta (QM), making some lovely lichen greens. The addition of PR cools it a little, QM cools the mix and QR warms the mix. In the next row Transparent Yellow (TY) replaces Winsor Lemon. The mix becomes far more vibrant as TY is a stronger, slightly warmer pigment. In the third row Indian Yellow is used. As you can see the mix dulls quite considerably, creating very earthy greens. The fourth row uses Quinacridone Gold, which makes some super olive green mixes. Depending how much QG is added this can be varied to make slightly bluer versions. The middle mix with added QR is again warmer in tone than the other two.

WARM

COOL

Key: WL – Winsor Lemon, TY – Transparent Yellow NG – New Gamboge IY – Indian Yellow QG – Quinacridone Gold PR – Permanent Rose QR – Quinacridone Red PC – Permanent Carmine QM – Quinacridone Magenta FU – French Ultramarine COB – Cobalt Blue WBGS – Winsor Blue Green Shade WBRS – Winsor Blue Red Shade

Magnolia pod.

For this Magnolia seedpod I used Winsor Blue Green Shade, Transparent Yellow and a tiny bit of Permanent Rose to achieve the pale warm yellow/green. The green mix has been muted by the use of a little Permanent Rose. These same three pigments were used to create the shadow tones and other colours in the stalk. The only other pigments used in the painting were Indanthrene Blue and Quinacridone Gold for the darker browns in the stalk.

Making green charts One method to make green charts is to use a template similar to the one here. It’s a huge task but will help with selecting which primaries to use when mixing greens. In the first row make a graduated wash of each mix made in each square rather than solid colour. Starting with Winsor Lemon or a similar cool light-yellow pigment from another brand, fill in the first square with 100 per cent colour. Select your first blue, for example French Ultramarine. Fill in the first square on the right side with the blue. Now mix a green for the first column by adding only a little bit of the blue. Bear in mind you will need less blue with a stronger pigment. Paint this into the first square making a graduation from dark to light. Next, take a little of your first green mix and water it down to make a 10 per cent tint and paint it into the box underneath. Divide the rest of your mix into three parts. Take one part and add a very small amount of the first red (PR) into it – not too much! Add this mix to the row underneath then make a 10 per cent tint to paint underneath it (it is not necessary to make the tint underneath unless you want to). Do this again with

the remaining two parts adding a little of the other two reds, QR and PC. Continue along the top row by adding a little more blue to each column, repeating the process until you arrive at 100 per cent blue at the other end.

Yellow to blue chart – Greens.

This will need to be done for a range of yellows and blues to give you a selection of charts with many variations. Winsor & Newton mix variations could be: WL – FU, WL – COB, WL – WBGS, WL – WBRS, COB – TY, WBGS – TY, WBRS – TY and so on. Whilst making the green charts you will discover a few ‘botanical greys’ (shadow colours) within the three-way mixes where red has been added. You could explore this further by enlarging the green chart to include more variations of added red, a little more red added to the green in each row. This will give you a range of brown/greens and browns. It’s endless!

Tints of your mixes could be added too but then you could go on forever and to be honest mixing the same colour will be enough to do without trying to match a tint as well! As you learn to recognize colour you will be able to work out in your mind which primaries to choose for the green you require. Added to this could be a series of charts using the following colours. A series of various red to yellow charts and a series of various red to blue charts. A violet to various yellows chart is useful too for beige and brown tones, watered down to make beige, that is. With practice mixing primaries, you will find that these charts will not be as needed in time. With knowledge and practice you will have a better understanding of what happens when you need to mix a certain colour. In addition, I do recommend making a three-way mix chart similar to the one you have seen in the ‘Mixing Primaries’ section of this book. You will discover many gorgeous colours and botanical greys if you expand on this and just keep finding as many as you can. It will help you to ‘see’ what happens and take a lot less time!

Finding those greens The leaf diagram shows how many varying colours would be found within a single leaf as well as underlay tones of blue and yellow to enhance coolness and warmth (graphic example only). Blue for cool areas and yellow for warm. These two colours can be applied as thin glazes after painting if you need to enhance with more blue or yellow. As you can see there are quite a few different tones of green!

Ash tree keys by Jackie Isard.

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO MAKE NEUTRAL TONES Beige and earthy tones appear a great deal in nature, especially in autumn subjects. It’s good to know how to mix them as well as the neutral watered down beige/grey. In the painting ‘Vessels of Life’ you will see nine different seed heads. I used many variations of beige and earthy tones when painting this. It won me my CBM

(Certificate of Botanical Merit) at the Society of Botanical Artists exhibition in 2017. The mixes I created, I will share with you now. To make all these beige tones I used mixes of the following colours; Winsor Violet, Transparent Yellow, Quinacridone Gold, Permanent Rose and Burnt Sienna in different quantities and variations, plus a little Indanthrene Blue for the browner shades.

‘Vessels of Life’ watercolour by Jackie Isard. A study in beige and brown!

Again, we can do all of this with a three-way primary mix using transparent pigments. The use of Winsor Violet is as if we were using red and blue but a premixed red and blue. You can mix a violet to suit your needs, a warm muted one or a bright vibrant one if needed.

Quinacridone Magenta and Winsor Blue Red Shade or Indanthrene Blue make a more muted version of Winsor Violet which is great for darker, more earthy browns. A bright mauve/violet can be mixed with Phthalo Turquoise and Quinacridone Magenta if you want to mix brighter, richer browns although you may as well use Winsor Violet, a single pigment colour. The yellow you choose will affect the mix too.

How to make the beige tones Beige is simple to make using various yellows with a violet mix and then diluting it with a lot of water. On the next page are some examples of mixing beige with TY/WV and QG/ WV (see Key). No. 7 and 8 are two warmer beige tones that have been made by adding a little BS. There are so many variations depending how much violet to yellow you use and how much water is added. BEIGE MIXES CHART

How to make the browns Brown is a colour you get when you mix three primary colours together but this is a more controlled way to do it! Use a little more yellow and red than you would use to make black. The browns will

vary depending on which primaries you use. Numbers 9–11 are brown mixes using IB, BS, QG and PR. The balance is about 50 per cent blue, 30 per cent red and 20 per cent yellow depending what tone you are looking for. You can adjust this mix accordingly. For cooler browns use Winsor Lemon or Transparent Yellow and for warmer muted browns, New Gamboge or Quinacridone Gold. The red should be chosen likewise. For brighter and warmer mixes Quinacridone Red, Permanent Rose or Burnt Sienna. For cooler bright mixes use Quinacridone Magenta. Brighter reds and yellows will make brighter richer browns. Endless browns can be made with red, blue and yellow. When IB, TY and PR or BS are mixed, another whole range of rusty and warm browns will emerge. As with beige mixes you just need to decide if you want a bright, warm, cool or earthy brown, add lots of water then mix away! Use transparent pigments to make brown and beige mixes for more realism and depth in your painting. To grey a beige mix, just add a little more red and blue.

Lily seed pod.

Camassia seed pod.

ALL ABOUT RED AND ORANGE Bright reds are hard to achieve in botanical painting. Red is a strong colour and painted thickly it can look dreadful. Thickly applied colour makes shadows very hard to apply. I would recommend transparent/semi-transparent pigments again and to build up the colour in thin layers. See the ‘layering’ and ‘values’ sections in Chapter 4.

RED CHART

ORANGE CHART

When considering shadow tones for a bright red flower like a poppy, use blue to dull your red, which will make the red mix a more violet grey tone. For the lightest areas use a warm yellow as an underlying colour to create pale orange/red tones. Only work your layers up to full colour in the strongest and darkest areas. The illustrations show two small charts of red and orange mixes. As you will see, Quinacridone Red and Scarlet Lake are the brightest when mixed with Winsor Lemon, Transparent Yellow or Indian Yellow. The addition of Permanent Rose mutes the colour but is still fairly bright mixed with Winsor Lemon or Indian Yellow. A good blue to use for darkening would be Winsor Blue Red Shade or Winsor Violet for warmth and French Ultramarine for coolness. A little yellow may be needed too when working into the deepest,

darkest shadows. An artist friend of mine, Vivienne Rew, created a series of Papaver paintings through the flower’s life cycle. They are exquisitely painted and she uses watercolour perfectly to create light and contrast. Orange, yellow, deep purple/grey and red feature highly to imitate light and dark on the subject. I have asked Vivienne Rew to describe her methods for you as I have yet to paint a vivid red subject!

Artist Vivienne Rew writes: ‘With this short-lived subject I had to work mainly from photographs. Firstly, I decided on the position, then lit the subject so there was a definite progression from light to shade. This makes a big difference to how you perceive colour and tonal values. Before I start painting I decide where the highlights and shadows are and which are my warm and cool tones. For this painting I started on the petals with the dark greens of the sepals painted in first, this helped me know how dark I needed to go with shadow areas of red. My first layer was a light watery wash of warm Winsor Yellow Deep, leaving the strongest highlights white, they can always be toned down at the end. Mid tones were then built up with a mix of Translucent Orange (Schminke brand) and Winsor Yellow Deep. Still using warm tones I then picked out darker areas and detail with a mix of Translucent Orange and Scarlet Lake. By this stage there are a lot of washes on the paper so any more colour is added with dry brush technique. Next, I added the cooler tones for the shadow

colours and defined the veins and creases with Winsor Red. For the darkest shadow areas I used Permanent Alizarin Crimson and added a little Winsor Violet to darken the mix. I also used Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Winsor Violet in the shadow mixes of the greens to harmonize the tones overall.’ This certainly is a stunner of a painting and the colours exquisite! Thank you, Vivienne. LAYER 1

LAYER 2

Poppy bud opening by Vivienne Rew. Part of her exhibition ‘Metamorphosis – Life cycle of Papaver Orientale’, RHS medal winner 2017.

BOTANICAL GREYS – SHADOW COLOURS What is a ‘botanical grey’? What is a ‘botanical grey’, I hear you ask? You’ve probably heard the term and perhaps you already know. Botanical greys are a mix used for shadows on a painting. Grey in botanical painting is never just watered-down black. Generally, they are shades that mimic the flower or leaf colour but with a little blue, red or yellow added to tone them down. Little adjustments in the mix will create a lovely range of shadow colours.

The images in this section show a few close-ups so we can explore how I resolved the botanical greys. Colours of shadows vary a great deal and you will see this when using a magnifying glass. Exploring this method will help you gain confidence with mixing your botanical greys in the future.

Mixing botanical greys Never use black paint, Payne’s Grey or Neutral Tint. These will make your shadow tones opaque and flat looking. They will also dull everything painted underneath if adding shadow tones towards the end of a painting. There are many shades of grey in botanical. Assessing which shade of grey you need starts with a magnifying glass and a swatch of colour tests. More often than not if you mix a little of your main flower colour with a little of the stalk green, you will get a perfect botanical grey for your flower stem and flower. This is often the case for stalk shadow tones although a little more blue may need adding too. However, red and pink flowers only demand blue, except in deepest shadows when a little yellow may be needed. In this exercise by one of my students, Lisa Chernyavska, you can see the botanical greys highlighted. As this is a pink flower, the botanical grey is made by adding blue to the flower colour mix, making a mauve tone. The addition of yellow would make the mix far too grey for this type of coloured flower except in the very deepest shadows. It is better to add a little blue to the pink or red mix to start with and test it from there. The test example shows the addition of a small amount of yellow to a violet/mauve mix. It works really well layered over the original mix and I would advise doing this type of test before you make a final decision. To darken greens, add a little blue and red. If you just add blue it will not appear as a botanical grey but as a blue/green. The examples below show this in a little more detail.

Colour mixing swatch by Lisa Chernyavska.

Botanical grey test.

A) Blue and a tiny bit of yellow added to purple mix for dark short shadow B) Blue added to purple mix for shadows between hairs C) Blue and a little yellow added to purple mix for deepest dark shadows D) Warm yellow/beige added in deepest shadows

A) Blue green/grey for cooler deep, wide shadows

B) Deepest short shadows brown/green C) Soft green warmed with a little extra blue and a tiny bit of red for pale shadows

A) Light beige/grey for under feathery bits, darker towards the deepest point B) Pink/beige shadows changing to brown/pink in darker areas C) Pale warm grey for curve on floating piece D) Deep warm pink/beige and brown/beige for deepest shadow areas E) Blue/grey shadow moving to warm brown/blue F) Blue/grey shadows on curled edge G) Blue/grey shadows on inner curve before the curled edge

A) A little blue added to the warm red for shadows between berries making a brown/red. This darkens towards deep shadow creases B) and C) Same as above for shorter edge shadows D) A little blue and yellow added to make a dark brown/black for deepest shadows

Botanical grey mix chart by Vicky Sharman.

Colour mixing swatch by Nathalie Wallace.

When mixing colour on your palette you will also discover botanical grey tones by just adding a little of the third primary to a two-way mix on your palette. These are not botanical greys in the ‘grey’ sense, more they are botanical greys as muted earthy tones. This exercise by student Vicky Sharman shows some botanical greys that you will be more familiar with, the darker grey/green, grey/brown, grey/blue and grey/red. Nathalie Wallace's swatch (right) shows a number of subtle botanical greys for the Magnolia petal.

Useful hints for making botanical greys across a

spectrum of colours Green – Add a little red and blue Orange – Add a little blue Red – Add a little blue or violet. For deeper shadows add a little yellow too Blue – Add a little yellow and red Purple – Add a little yellow or blue Lilac – Add a little yellow or blue Pink – Add a little blue. For deeper shadows add a little yellow Yellow – Add a little blue (green shades) Sometimes red and blue (beige shades) Mauve – Add a little yellow Brown – Add a little red and blue Beige – Add a little red and blue

Finding those botanical greys The photo shows a great example of swatch making by student Nathalie Wallace. It shows the many colours within just one small Magnolia petal. The botanical greys for lighter and darker areas are present too. Note the blue and slightly greyed tones of the pinks.

White and yellow flower shadows Colours of shadows are always different across the subject. Sometimes they are much darker and other times lighter. It is important to check this beforehand or you could paint them in too

heavily, especially on lighter coloured flowers. Squint your eyes to see the colours by comparing them with other colours nearby. Consider them like shades or tints of a mix. Always let your mixes dry thoroughly before applying. They often dry darker than you think! White flowers demand the palest shadow tones. Often pale blue, pale violet, pale yellow, beige, warm or cool grey and sometimes pale green. I have included a swatch for the snowdrop pictured here and detailed below where I used these colours in the painting. It is almost like painting into the negative, which is described in Chapter 2.

The beginnings and ends of shadows lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow. Leonardo da Vinci

Key: WBRS – Winsor Blue Red Shade, WL – Winsor Lemon, TY – Transparent Yellow, PR – Permanent Rose An = sign means a little bit

(A) Open flower. Green/grey is applied as a shadow tone to the green parts (see swatch above). Violet and warm beige grey are added into shadow areas of the petals. Pale blue and pale yellow are used on cool and warm areas.

(B) Developing bud. Pale yellow and blue are added to the outer warm and cool areas of the front petal. Warm beige grey is added into the crease where petals overlap and cool grey for the very tip of the front petal.

(C) Close bud. Cool grey and a little pale blue are added to the left side. A little warm beige grey and pale yellow are used as shadow tones in the right side crease.

Snowdrop painting.

For white flowers like this Narcissus, we are really just painting shadow tones to define the subject. It is easier to define petals where they overlap as the shadow tones will be slightly stronger. You need to look carefully to ‘see’ all the colours and vary the tones and shades (see swatches). When painting edges of petals, use very fine lines and do not paint in the whole edge. You will only see an edge where the light that hits your subject is less intense. Sometimes the edge will completely disappear. This applies to all subjects, but is more obvious on white flowers. There is nothing worse than an overpainted edge!

(A) Snowdrop edge: on the left side the edge is very pale top and bottom, and almost invisible in the middle section.

(B) Narcissus edges: on the left and right side there are loose petals; the middle edge is not visible but towards the tip it shows up.

Narcissus.

On the Greater Bird’s Foot Trefoil painting, the shadow colours were very similar to the Narcissus; a mix of pale green, pale beige/grey and pale green/grey. To create these shadow colours I added a little red and blue to the flower yellow in different quantities. More blue and less red for the green/grey. About the same of amount of blue and red for the beige/grey. A warm pale green was apparent near the keel part of the flowers. This colour was mixed with New Gamboge and Winsor Blue Green Shade. New Gamboge is a warm yellow and to keep brightness I used Winsor Blue Green Shade. A little red was added to the mix for the deepest shadows only.

Greater Bird’s Foot Trefoil.

CHAPTER 4

Advanced Colour Application Techniques UNDERLAYING AND OVERLAYING COLOUR Underlaying and overlaying colour is a great way to enhance your painting. By doing this you will achieve more translucence, vibrancy and depth. Transparent/semi-transparent pigments are generally recommended for botanical painting because the layering qualities are perfect for this medium. Here I will explain the process.

Faded Photina leaf by Jackie Isard.

Why paint in layers? When new layers of transparent/semi-transparent pigment are added over one another, the layers beneath shine through. Underlayers of colour can be used to create shadows, add richness to the layers above and cool or warm areas. Overlays of colour can be used to bring up vibrancy, control temperature and also add richness. Patience is needed as each layer can take a long time to dry!

Never go into the creative process thinking that if the end result isn’t perfect, you have failed. By considering your art practice an experiment, and by allowing yourself to make mistakes, you are growing as an artist – don’t ever stop. If you ask yourself at the end of the day, “did I learn something?” and you can answer “yes”, it was a valuable experience. Robert McNeill

When the colour achieves richness the form attains its fullness also. Paul Cézanne

Layering Making a layered bar is a good exercise as it helps you to understand how thin layers create smooth colour. Thin layers allow you to add fine detail at the end comfortably without smudging the layers beneath. Start with a thin mixture to each column and continue along the whole bar. Make sure you let each layer dry thoroughly before adding the next layer. Using the same strength mix, fill columns 2–6, on top. Keep doing this until you reach full colour at the far end omitting one column each time.

Checking values.

A layered bar.

Colour and tonal values To check if your tonal values are working change a photograph or a scan of your painting to black and white. This will give you a clear view of where you may need to adjust things. By this I mean

darkening or lightening values. Adjustments to colour tone can be made by layering a thin wash of, for instance, a pale yellow over a green to warm it up. A thin layer of French Ultramarine will cool. This is called glazing. You can also brighten by using a thin red or yellow glaze. I used Scarlet Lake to punch up the redder areas on my Photinia leaf. Cooling down an area was done with a very thin violet/mauve glaze. This can also be used to exaggerate the highlight areas. On a cooler green leaf I would have used a blue instead of violet.

Underlayers of Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine and Transparent Yellow have been added to this pine cone seed painting.

How this all relates to my Photinia painting

Underlaying colour tones before you start adding painted layers helps to enhance the layers above. Warmer areas have yellow under them (1) and cooler areas a weak violet or blue (2).

See how the warm and cool underlayers peep through the layers of colour above (3). Underlying colour tones are visible on the bottom of this photo. Transparent pigments really do work!

The completed layers on the left side show how the underlay and layered colour work altogether. This part of my leaf was much lighter and mostly warm with a little cool here and there.

Short (1) and wide (2) shadows near the stalk and within the vein areas. Length of shadow is crucial to achieve form. There are light and dark shadows here too. See ‘Shadow secrets’ section in this chapter.

Notice the violet underlayer making the indented area of this leaf stand out as well as enhancing the strong highlight (4). Scarlet Lake has been added to enhance vibrancy of the section above (5).

Finest details are added at the end after three to four layers of thin soft glazes to build up to full colour.

SHADOW SECRETS Lighting your subject with a strong daylight lamp is essential to see the shadow width and depth. A direct light source is constant and outside influences cannot affect it. Putting a white folded back board behind your subject will also ensure colour remains the same throughout painting time. How many times have I heard artists say how frustrating it is that the sunlight changes through the day? This neat trick will solve those problems.

Knowing where to place shadows and how strong to make them is all about observation. Observe your subject well, checking colour as well as the warmth and coolness of tone. Check the width of the shadows too. Not all shadows are dark! LIGHT SOURCE DIAGRAM

On the example here the shadow on the top right side of my Photinia leaf is dark and short (4). Dark because it is away from the light and short because it has a steep curve up and over before it flattens out. The left side is a wide light shadow (1) from the peak because it is on the lighter side of the leaf and slowly curves down, then flattens out before the tight curl at the edge. There are some examples of the curves I have negotiated in the diagrams shown here. The black lines represent the leaf surface and the red dotted lines show the length of each shadow applied.

Art does not reflect what is seen, rather it makes the hidden visible. Paul Klee

Shadow deception

For an example of deceptive shadow curves I will use my Protea neriifolia painting. It shows how short and wide shadows affect the way our eye interprets the peaks and troughs. The depth of shadow is important to consider. With this in mind, consider diagram 1. The folded tent card looks as if the peak is standing upright but if you look again it will appear to be standing on its bottom and folded the other way. Convex and concave. The mini pattern creates the same optical illusion. This is exactly what happened on my Photinia leaves. To achieve this accurately, the width of the shadows and the darkness towards the centre vein or edge of the leaf need to be exactly right.

Diagram 1.

Diagram 2.

I have mimicked the shadows painted on the convex top leaf in the little tent drawing, diagram 2. The top leaves should look as if the main vein is protruding upwards and the leaf side falling away from it (convex) until it meets the paler curled-up outer edge. The right side leaf is concave and the main vein looks as if it is disappearing downwards, away from the leaf sides. Now look at diagram 2 and again you will see that your eye will tell you differently. Both convex and concave are visible. If the left shadow is too wide on the convex leaf, this happens (A). I found this quite an annoying discovery whilst working on this painting! It took a lot of tiny adjustments to the shadow widths and values to make sure this worked correctly.

Diagram 3.

In diagram 3, the black lines represent the leaf surface and the red dotted lines show the length of the darkest shadow area. The blue dotted line shows the length of graduation to pale.

Underlaying shadows Shadow colours can be added before you start painting. It is a useful thing to do if you are painting a strongly coloured plant or flower. With this type of subject you will build up colour intensity over a few layers. Adding a final shadow layer can be tricky as the layers will already be quite dense on the paper. When you apply subsequent layers, the paint will smudge. So, applying them first is the best option. You can use Winsor Violet to create deep shadows on a conker. The conker rich colour layers will sit beautifully over the top, with transparent/semi-transparent mixes, and the Winsor Violet will shine through creating a dark brown. Four layers were used on this painting. Apply thin layers of paint for each layer. Let your layers dry thoroughly before adding the next or your paint won’t seep into the paper, but lie on the surface and build up.

Layer 1

Layer 2

Layer 4

Overlaying shadows On lighter subjects the shadow colours are added as you paint, painting in the negative. On this Ink Cap fungi I was basically painting shadows to create the shape and detail on the top section. It is similar to painting white flowers. I previously explained the shadow colour tones I used to create this in the ‘Shadow colours and botanical greys’ section in Chapter 3. The close-up image here will give you a better view of the subtle tints and colour changes across the subject.

Negative painting example.

Deep defining shadows Deep shadows are important to create depth in a painting. Where many elements become tightly squeezed together, deep shadowing is essential to define values. The spaces between the immature flowers on the Greater Knapweed cross-section painting were defined with darker cool and warm versions of the purple mix. The darkest mix being achieved by adding a tiny bit of yellow and blue to the purple mix. Colours of shadows vary so it is important to look carefully with a magnifying glass. The Protea neriifolia painting has a similar effect of cool and warm variations. Painting all these colours in ensures realism, depth and form.

Close up Greater Knapweed cross-section.

Protea shadows.

COLOUR TEMPERATURE TRANSITION Recognizing a difference in tone across a subject takes practice. When I talk about colour temperature transition, I am talking about the warm and cool areas. Every section or part of a subject will vary as you look across just one small petal. It took me some time to notice these differences but whilst at a master class, with the guidance of Robert McNeill and Fiona Strickland, I saw the light! For this reason I felt colour temperature transition needed to be included in my book.

Hydrangea floret.

Colour temperature transition involves underlayers, cool and warm mixes, and perhaps some overlay glazes to enhance too. All these things will improve the definition of form, translucence, vibrancy and realism. The small dried Hydrangea floret seen here was used as a demo piece for students on one of my courses. Such a small insignificant item made up of four sepals and a tiny shrivelled infertile flower at the centre. The dried fertile flower is attached to the stalk. It was a perfect subject to demonstrate this. The colours were wonderful too!

Lighting your subject.

The importance of lighting The first thing to consider when starting a new project is your lighting. To view all those lovely colour temperature transitions you really need to light your subject with a bright constant light source. A daylight bulb lamp is preferable. For this little subject I laid my light source down on the table, as shown in the photo. Instantly the light and dark areas came to life. What looked quite flat and uninteresting suddenly looked so much more colourful and exciting to paint.

Studying the colours A magnifying glass or peep hole is an essential tool to see all the colours clearly. Magnifying your subject opens up a whole new world of colour and detail. Shine your light across the subject from left to right. This is the most used position for botanical art. Many artists use an overhead magnifier to paint. I have never found one with a lens strong enough for my terrible eyesight so I use my strong hand-held one instead!

Magnifying glass.

A few useful things to remember Understanding which colour tones are cooler and which are warmer is essential. This comes with practice as the more you look, the more you will see! Every subject has its brighter and more shaded areas. If you look at an apple you will see that the foreground nearest to you looks brighter than the areas that move away from you. If it is a green apple, the green at the front will appear more yellow and the green going away from you, more blue. Any well-lit subject will consist of brighter areas and darker

areas. Darkest areas can be cool as well as warm depending on the tone of the surrounding colour. You have to look carefully. Some very dark areas may appear to the cool side, such as a dark brown with a blue bias, which is almost black. The brightest areas are generally warmer in temperature. A leaf will have a dark and lighter side. The darker side will have a slight blue bias and the lighter side, slightly yellow. As botanical artists we also need to notice things like highlights, lowlights, reflective light and deep shadows. Plenty here to notice and think about! Earlier in this chapter we learned about underlaying and overlaying colour, which I will discuss a little more here. Underlay colours of Winsor Blue Red Shade (WBRS) or Winsor Violet (WV) will darken layers above. For dark green subjects use WBRS or French Ultramarine (FU) and for dark brown, conker brown or deep red, use WV. The reason this happens is because the additional red and blue, WBRS, underneath a green mix (yellow and blue) will darken as it does when we are making shades, darkening towards brown/black. If using WV as an underlay to a conker brown, the reason this darkens is because WV is a red/blue pigment. Adding this underneath a brown mix that has yellow, red and blue in it darkens the colour above again towards brown/black. Pale underlayers of Transparent Yellow (TY), a cool/warm pigment, or Indian Yellow (IY), a warm pigment, will brighten areas and warm them from underneath. If your subject has very strong highlights, omit the yellow underlay on these areas unless they are very pale and the background shows a need for it. A useful technique for shading the darker side of a leaf without affecting the overall green colour is to use a blue underlay in cooler areas. You can cool colour by using French Ultramarine underneath.

For the warmer areas of a leaf, add a pale yellow underlay. Overlays of pale colour can also be used to adjust colour throughout painting. Blue or violet to cool. Yellow or a warm red to warm or brighten.

Selecting pigments Going back to the Hydrangea floret, we are now going to look at the selected pigments for this painting. The pigments I chose for this Hydrangea floret are as follows:

Hydrangea swatch.

Transparent Yellow – Cool/warm  Indian Yellow – Warm  New Gamboge – Cool/warm  (very little used in one beige mix only) Permanent Carmine – Cool/warm  Permanent Rose – Cool/warm  Winsor Violet – Cool  (for beige/brown mixes) Winsor Blue Red Shade – Warm  Winsor Blue Green Shade – Cool  French Ultramarine – Cool  (for underlaying in cooler areas) Cobalt Blue – Cool  (for underlaying in cooler areas) The first steps:

• To begin, I mixed a range of violet/lilac colours. Various warm to cool mixes were tested (see colour swatch). • Then I mixed a few shadow tones of violet/grey, a cool grey and a warmer grey. • Next I mixed a cool creamy pale yellow mix, which was evident on some sepals in the background. This mix was used first over most of the sepals apart from extreme highlights as this was a visible underlaying colour tone generally. • A few beige mixes were added for the faded areas, mostly warm with a slightly cooler shadow colour. • Lastly, on the swatch, I made a note of which colour pigments I could use for overlaying or underlaying to adjust temperature if required.

Painting the Hydrangea floret On the first layer I used thin underlayers of cool and warm violet tones. The second layer was also considered carefully and steps between warm and cool lilac tones were added to begin to create form. A little subtle shadow veining was also added.

The colour temperature transition diagram here shows how I approached the temperature differences on a work in progress. This diagram shows the warm and cool adjustments made. They are very subtle but crucial to create form and realism. There is a long way to go before this painting will be finished but you can see how it is developing through the layering and colour stages. There is more on colour application in the step by step guides later on in this book. COLOUR TEMPERATURE TRANSITION DIAGRAM

CHAPTER 5

Painting With Layers HYDRANGEA FLORET EXAMPLE In this section I am going to show you how I painted this beautifully coloured dried Hydrangea floret. The photo shows the position I chose for composition, but be aware that this photograph has distorted the floret a little from the view I see. That’s the problem with photographing a subject! My drawing on the next page is far more accurate to what is seen in real life. The camera elongates aspects and can distort other parts. It can also obscure botany detail in plants which you would not miss using a magnifying glass or the naked eye.

The author painting a Hydrangea.

On my drawing you will see that I have added the tiny veins in. This is because you can easily lose track when painting!

Foreshortening is elongated in the photo.

It seems obvious that colours vary accordingly to light, because when any colour is placed in the shade, it appears to be different to the same colour which is located in the light. Shades make colour dark, whereas light makes colour bright where it strikes. Leon Battista Alberti

The Hydrangea floret drawing.

A detailed drawing will help you find your way around the subject more easily. This is a black fine liner drawing on tracing paper, which was transferred via a light pad to watercolour paper. I used an H pencil to transfer it and drew the ‘detailed map’ very lightly onto the paper. The tracing is kept in case anything goes wrong and I need to use it again.

Lighting your subject Light your subject from the left. Put the light source close to the subject to create contrast. Move it a little bit away if it has too much contrast or closer if you cannot see the definite shadows clearly. Here is a photo to show a good example of where to position your

light on a small subject. I used an LED folding lamp turned on its side for this small subject. The close-up photo of the floret shows how a well-lit subject will look. In comparison to the photo on the previous page, you will see that the vein shadows and deepest shadow areas are now clearly visible. Good lighting makes the highlights and dark areas further apart in value, creating more interest. Remember we have a lower perception of colour in dull light than we do in full light. Detail is also lost in lower light conditions. In the well-lit floret photo the colour tones and detail are much more obvious. This is as close as I can get with a camera to show you the difference!

Lighting a small subject.

Diagram of colours viewed.

The diagram describes the various colour tones now visible to the eye. From here I used my magnifying glass to assess all the colours I need to consider mixing!

The Hydrangea floret with lighting.

Choosing the colour palette The first thing to do is to study your subject very carefully using a magnifying glass or a peep hole. To begin, I look for the underlying colours and ‘base tones’ as well as warm and cool colours as the light falls onto it. If you squint your eyes you will see these more clearly. The more of these tones you can add to your painting, the more realism you will achieve. It gives the layers more depth.

Underlay colour tests. Key: WL – Winsor Lemon NG – New Gamboge TY – Transparent Yellow PR – Permanent Rose QR – Quinacridone Red SL – Scarlet Lake WBRS – Winsor Blue Red Shade PT – Phthalo Turquoise PB – Prussian Blue An = sign means a little bit WV – Winsor Violet

Hydrangea swatch.

1 Dark blue 2 Cool blue 3 Warm blue 4 Gold/beige 5 Warm pink/beige

6 Warm brown/beige 7 Cool silver/grey 8 Warm grey 9 Warmer grey 10 Beige grey 11 Gold 12 Buff grey 13 Red brown 14 Gold brown

For the next step I made a colour swatch on a piece of the same watercolour paper I would be using for the painting. I worked out the base tones and tested my underlay mixes. In this way I could see how they were affected by the base layers of pale colour I had chosen (see underlay colour tests image). This also tells me where not to paint underlay colours if it will affect the subsequent layers. For instance, in the cooler blue areas of this Hydrangea floret I did not lay down a yellow base tone wash. The blue would be made greener if I did this. For cooler beige and darker shadow areas I added a very pale wash of Winsor Violet (WV). Next, I used a very pale wash of Permanent Rose (PR) under the areas that look a little on the pink side, warmer. The bottom sepal had a very strong highlight along the right edge and a subtle graduated wash of WV would enhance this. Mustn’t overdo it though! For warmer areas I used Transparent Yellow (TY) or Indian Yellow (IY) as a thin underlayer. TY being the brighter yellow. Remember how I applied this technique on my Photinia leaf in Chapter 4.

Selecting the pigments

Choosing the pigments to use for this subject started with selecting a cool blue. It needed to be a blue which can be warmed up to create the warmer tones either by the IY base tone or by adding a tiny bit of yellow to the blue. I chose Prussian Blue (PB) and Phthalo Turquoise (PT), which gave me mixes closer in tone to my subject. Winsor Lemon (WL) was added to make a warmer version of the blue mix instead of IY for the left and bottom sepals. The reason for this is because IY is nearer to the orange spectrum and will warm the blue too much giving it an olive green appearance. The blue I needed was an icy blue/green. Another good cool blue is French Ultramarine (FU) but PB and WL made a perfect colour match too. I chose to use PB and WL instead and the reason for this is because FU granulates. I didn’t want the granulation to distract from the natural, more subtle smooth patterning on the floret. Mixing the blue tones (2 and 3 on the numbered swatch) was quite tricky as the tiniest bit too much WL rendered the mix too green. For this reason I mixed up a nice amount on my palette!

Sepal 1 First layer I have tried to get the photos as clear as possible in this section to show each layer as it is applied, but the first layers are pale. Firstly I added the underlying colours, pale washes of IY, TY and WV. I let this dry for quite some time before adding the next layer. This allows the wet paper fibres to knit together again ensuring a flat smooth surface for the next layer.

Sepal 1 – underlay areas and actual sepal.

First layer colours and edge details.

Second layer

For the second layer I used my colour mixes (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10) but not at full colour. Thin glazes are applied over the top of the base tones. I am always checking for warm and cool tones across the subject as I add to this layer, hence the amount of mixes used! I may at this stage cool areas down by adding a thin glaze of pale blue or violet or warm areas by adding a very thin glaze of yellow. It’s best to try to get as close as possible on the second layer. The individual floret diagrams below highlight the warm and cool areas to explain this.

Third layer On the third layer I have added more colour to bring the painting up to almost full colour. All the time I am checking for depth as well as colour temperature transition. Here I have darkened deeper shadows and begun to add shadow to the edges of the smaller veins. My shadow colour varies across the subject but on warmer blue areas it is a warm grey (8) or cooler blue areas, silver/grey (7). For the beige areas a warm gold/beige (4) was used. The darkest shadow along the top right side of the midrib vein is almost black. For this I used the darkest blue (1) but with a little more yellow and a tiny bit of red added. Edges are various tones of colour (see 2, 3 and 5 in the diagram). They are not the same mix all the way along. Look carefully!

At this point it is good to consider any areas that may need darkening or lightening. Here I am checking the shadow depths as I build up colour. It may be necessary to increase the value tones of the deepest shadows and creases. Lighter veins will be edged with short and wide shadows where needed. More pale glazes are added at this stage to bump up colour. After this the veins are painted in. These are checked carefully as some are paler than others. Remember here to only paint what you see, don’t paint the whole vein all the way along.

This also applies to outside sepal edges. Be sure to check the colour of each vein as it moves along the sepal. It will not be the same colour all the way along! Some of it may even disappear altogether. This also applies to outside sepal edges. Some areas of these will be wider or almost just a fine line.

Fourth layer The fourth layer is my favourite. This is the prelim to the finest final details stage. Here I am checking for depth of colour in the darkest areas, whether it needs enhancing anywhere with overlays to warm or cool, whether the highlights are strong enough and whether I need to do any erasing out. In other words, I am checking values. I change the painting to black and white to check this. All these things will be

done and then the whole painting left to dry thoroughly before adding those last finest details, tightening edges and crisping up vein work. I will get a more accurate view of my colour values once I can compare it to another painted sepal. I have taken a close-up photo to show you how it looks. I will come back to this sepal later and compare it to other sepals to double check the values.

Checking depth and form.

Checking values.

Almost finished sepal.

Comparing the elements as you go will help you to see where things may still need darkening, lightening or enhancing. It is good to view the elements together as you paint each section and compare them to the real subject as well as each other.

The second sepal The second sepal is far lighter than the first one as it is closer to the light source. Across this sepal there are still cool and warm tones despite it being much paler. On the first layer I painted in was a very

pale wash of IY under the beige area and also in part of the bottom blue area. A little TY was added in the cooler areas and the bottom curled edge. No underlay colour was applied to the areas in extreme highlight. A little WV was added to the leaf curl, top right of the sepal, as this was in quite deep shadow.

Second sepal close up.

Underlay colours.

To ensure I did not lose the highlights on this brighter sepal, much thinner layers were applied. The blue on the bottom of the sepal is the cooler green/blue mix (2) and at the top the warmer blue mix (3). Pale gold/beige (4) was added to the middle area. A little shadow warm grey (8) was added to the bottom section to create the curve before it turns and curls under at the scalloped edge.

First layer colours.

Warm grey (8) was also added to the top of the sepal to enhance the curve and along the edge of the main veins. These were softened with a damp brush at the edges to create a blurred vein shadow. These pale shadows would help to define the veins more by making them appear to stand away from the other areas in between. Warm beige brown (6) was painted into the top right of each curl leaving the highlight area paler as they twist down towards the central floret.

Shadows on veins.

More of the blue was now added to define the sepal. After this the veins were added. The midrib vein on this petal changed from red brown (14) through to gold brown (13) and finally to gold (11). Every vein on this sepal was coloured in a slightly different way.

The next stage was to add a third layer of colour over the whole sepal with soft glazes to bring it all together. The scallop edge was also defined with more shadowing between the sections using warm blue (3). Next the top brown curled edge was painted in and the bottom curl colouring enhanced. Finally, the tiny veins were added

on the bottom curled-up edge. A black and white version reveals that all is looking good so far but two areas need darkening a little to increase depth in the curves. Once totally dry, pencil lines can be carefully erased.

The third sepal This sepal is a cross between strong highlighted areas and deep shadows. Underlay colours of IY, WV and a little shadow colour, cool silver grey (7), were added first (Fig. 1). The darkest area is along the outer bottom right edge so WV was added here and softened to graduate it.

Curled sections.

The cooler of my blue mixes (2) was then painted in between the little vein sections (Fig. 2). Some paler and others darker. The vein pattern is very obvious on this sepal in more shaded areas. Warmer

blue (3) was added along the outer right edge in between the veins (Fig. 3). This is a deep short shadow area, a tight curl which turns away just at the very edge. The tighter the edge curl, the deeper colour is needed in darker shaded areas. The deeper blue edge is painted carefully with a darker line (1). Subtle gold beige (4) was added in between the veins at the top where they come out from the mid-rib vein (Fig. 4). Pale warm grey (8) was then added between the vein sections keeping a highlight at the edge of each vein. Veins were then painted in very thinly. They will be enhanced later.

The next layers build up colour in between the veins and define vein edges (Fig. 5). Beige/grey (10) and warm brown beige (6) plus a little cool blue (2) have been added in soft thin glazes between the veins. This was built up gradually checking all the time, whether it needed to go darker or not, in comparison to the highlighted central area. Once totally dry, the graphite drawing was erased out. This must be done with care to ensure the paper surface is not damaged.

Layering thinly bit by bit ensures you don’t go too dark too quickly. Less is more!

Building up colour between veins.

Once I had completed the whole sepal I noticed there was a little tinge of pink beige near the stalk at the top. This was probably reflected from the stalk and when added it made a huge difference. Two thin glazes of IY have also been used to warm up this sepal. The bottom right edge was looking too bright and needed muting down to grey it a little. I used IY to do this instead of the cool blue, as this would have more effect on the red/blue underneath. The cool blue would not have greyed it but brightened it.

Checking colour codes.

The left side was approached in much the same way. There was a whole section on this sepal which is shaded by the sepal on the left. A pale wash of warmer grey (9) was used over this area as well as a glaze of IY and a little cool blue (2). Cool blue was used because I did not want to grey the area any more by using the red bias blue. The veins appeared to be a gold/beige in colour and the vein highlights not so prominent on this side. Some of the veins were almost pink/gold in places. Fig. 6 is the finished sepal with all colour temperature transition and shadows taken into consideration.

The fourth and fifth sepals These would be painted in a similar way to sepals one and two. The fourth is a very light sepal, mostly beige and warm yellow tones. The fifth, darker with cool and warm blue tones as well as some pale warm yellow beige.

Checking colour tones.

You may notice that my stalk is not masked out on my painting. As it is quite thick I decided that I could paint around it. The stalk is quite hairy and a red/brown colour. How on earth would I paint those tiny hairs, I hear you say? You need to paint the tiniest dots between the hairs using the negative painting technique! The stalk has lighter and darker areas depending where the light hits it and how reflective light affects it. The hairs and lighter areas are not white but a pale warm beige tone. Firstly, I added a wash of pale warm beige across the whole stalk and softened the lighter edge to fade it away to paper white. Tiny work!

Next, with the very tip of my brush point I would gently add in those very tiny dots of red/brown using dry brush technique. A paler version of the mix and a darker mix for the darker areas. Fading them in and out by using closer dots for darkness and wider apart dots for lighter areas. There are almost no dots along the brightest edge. To define the darkest edge I painted a very fine line but not all the way along. Doing this would make it look too contrived. You only need to paint parts of it. Our painting is now complete.

Student painting a Hydrangea floret.

CHAPTER 6

Underlaying Colour to Enhance CHERRY AND BERRIES – ENHANCING COLOUR In this section I am going to show you how to enhance those red berries to achieve better colour, form and realism. To begin, here is a neat trick to help with drawing up a cherry or any round fruit. A berry, cherry or other fruit is more interesting when not facing straight on and even better if it has a few blemishes. The cherry drawing seen here is a nicely angled example. You may be wondering why I have drawn lots of contour lines onto my cherry drawing. There is a reason for this. It helps me with brush stroke angles. Following the contours when painting will improve realism and make it easier to follow the shape of the fruit. You could draw them in very lightly or, as I do, draw some in and use the line drawing as a reference.

Iris foetidissima by Jackie Isard.

Cherry contour drawing.

Look at the sphere paintings. The first sphere is painted with thick 100 per cent pigment. With this method it is extremely hard to get a soft graduated effect on the highlight or anywhere as thick pigment backs up on itself. It also looks flat. The second sphere shows a thinner mix of the red applied gradually in layers with softened highlight edges. It is a little better but still lacks form, looking flat. The third sphere is almost there. This was painted using soft thin layers and the sphere is becoming more apparent. It is also looking better because other lighter areas have been considered. In the last one reflective light has also been considered and so a perfect sphere is made. Reflective light is light that bounces back from the surface that the fruit is resting on or other objects nearby. Reflective light creates lighter areas where you think it would be darker. Now let’s consider the underlying colours needed for this cherry. Cherries are great subjects for strong highlights as they are generally quite shiny. The highlights are almost completely white in places (paper white of course!).

A different approach to the sphere will be made due to the angle of our subject. On this cherry direct light is hitting the front near the top and there is a strong reflective light area bottom right, which will be lighter in tone to the rest of the cherry. The nearest part of the cherry will be warmer than the parts that are further away. You will see I have added yellow to the warmest area of the cherry and violet to the cooler areas. This is not applied at the same strength all over, as it would be too heavy. It has been softened and graduated. Winsor Violet will sit nicely under the layers of strong reds. A little French Ultramarine was also used along the edge of the reflected light area bottom right. It is important to study your subject carefully to see where to put these underlay colours. Generally, the yellow will be on the warmer areas closest to you or directly in light. Violet in the darker shadow areas and pale blue along the edge of a highlight where it is close to a darker area.

In the swatch I have mixed three types of red with Permanent Rose (PR), Perylene Maroon (PM) and Transparent Yellow (TY). A brighter warm red, a mid range cooler red and a darker red which has a little Winsor Violet (WV) added. I then tested each of my red mixes over the underlay colours to see how they were affected. This helps me to decide whether to use my cool or warm red when adding the first layers. As you will see below with the first layer applied, the underlying colours shine through creating instant depth and form (layer 2). This layer is roughly done with soft glazes. The next layer is again a series of soft glazes to build up colour a little more before the fine detail stage. Some areas are left lighter so

that when the patterned surface is painted over, the light will still shine through.

The third layer is more exciting! Here we are using dry brush technique to dab in colour and create the textured pattern on the cherry’s surface. Light, tiny strokes with the tip of the brush. The

image is enlarged so you can see it more clearly. I used the brighter warm red and the cooler red on the lighter areas and a little of the deeper red in the darker shadow areas. As you can see the warmth and coolness of the underlay colours is still shining through. I have also softened the edge of the white highlight with a very pale blue and a little pale warm red.

Orange and deeper red berries This lovely bunch of Pyracantha tree berries is another subject but this time with an orange/red hue. The same method is applied by adding violet and yellow underlay colours to enhance the rich orange/red. Not so much violet is added, as the orange is lighter than the cherry red this time. We don’t want it to be overpowering! Yellow is added to the warmest, closest area. A pale blue is added to the reflected area bottom right. The orange/red mixes were made with Quinacridone Red and Transparent Yellow. A warmer and more orange version with more yellow added was also made for the lighter areas. It is very important to build colour up in layers when using such a strong colour. About three layers were applied to ensure a smooth finish. The reflected light area was left almost clear of paint. Just a little soft blurring around the edges was done.

Matching colours.

The Hawthorn berry has been treated in much the same way except the Winsor Violet underlay would need to be a little darker to show through the deeper red mixes.

CHAPTER 7

Colour and Fine Detailing SUN-SCORCHED ERYNGIUM The process of painting a dried Eryngium I discovered this sun scorched Eryngium in my garden in 2017. It was a very hot summer that year. Its common name is Sea Holly. This particular species had a flower with long spiky bracts fanning out from a central inflorescence of tiny florets. The summer sun had scorched the bracts making them fade faster and the colours looked magnificent… I just had to paint it!

Sun-scorched Eryngium by Jackie Isard.

Matching colours.

Jackie painting her Eryngium.

I decided to draw it larger than life to get all those lovely details and colours in. The central inflorescence would be very complex to paint, but exciting to try.

Preparing to paint Before I draw any subject I study it carefully. I also use a microscope to check and see the details my eyes cannot see. This was especially important with this flower head. Each individual floret has enlarged pointed sepals. As the flowers mature, the petals fall and the pistels shoot out through the top from the ovary below. These and the green elongated sepals are what create the spiky appearance of the central

inflorescence. The pale blue/lilac shoots that can be seen in my photograph are the pistels.

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them. John Ruskin

Tracing up with a light pad.

The central inflorescence.

The drawing was complex and it took lots of concentration to get it right. Once transferred onto watercolour paper, I could now think about colours to mix. This specimen had some beautiful mauve/blue and golden brown/beige tones. It also had a little light cool green, which made a beautiful palette combination. The blue mixes were made with Indanthrene Blue and Winsor Violet. A blue mix with a violet bias. A little Transparent Yellow was added for the cooler blue. The gorgeous pale icy green was made with Winsor Blue Green Shade, Transparent Yellow, a tiny bit of Permanent Rose and water. For the browns, beige and golden tones on my swatch seen here, the palette was Transparent Yellow, Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna, Winsor Violet and Indanthrene Blue. You may have noticed two pigments here that are not true primaries – Winsor Violet and Burnt Sienna. Winsor Violet and

Burnt Sienna are single pigment colours. Why didn’t I use a blue and red instead? The reason for this is because being transparent single pigments makes them good additions when trying to reduce the amount of pigments mixed together. Both are also very lightfast. Although Burnt Sienna is not a very saturated primary, it is a red. Both to my mind are fine to use! I have added my swatch card so you can see the colours I am using. The illustrations show the painting process for one of the spiky bracts on this Eryngium.

Swatch with pigment mixes.

Initial layers

This bract was mostly beige/brown in colouring. Underlay (1) was added first, a pale thin wash of Transparent Yellow. A thin mix of beige (2) followed. This was added into the mid-toned areas of the bract.

Once the mid-toned areas were painted in I used a slightly darker version of beige (2) and added it into the shadow areas along veins and creases. This is left to dry thoroughly before applying the next layer.

The third application is a slightly darker mix of beige (2), again strengthening up the deepest shadow areas a little. Care was taken not to lose highlights and lighter veins.

A full colour mix (2), a creamy consistency not thick, is now used to work into the deepest shadow areas and edge the veins where the shadow is darkest. A little gold (4) plus warm beige (5) mix was added to enhance warmth in the mid-toned areas.

Strengthening the dips and curves

Where the bract joins the central floret it has many creases. Here I added the darker mix of beige (2) to create depth. As you will see in the next steps it is often the case that you need to paint darker into extreme shadows to show form clearly. Lighter veins are carefully left clear of paint by using the method ‘painting in the negative’.

Enhancing the deepest shadow areas in the twists with brown (7) and in the deepest corners warm brown/grey (8). Mix (7) is added first and softened to make a graduated fade. After this has dried number (8) is then added but just into the very deepest corners. Deep shadows need to be very dark sometimes so if you find it is not working then try going a little darker.

More deep tones are added to the top curve of the left-hand spike and central part. A deep short shadow is added to the main spike just at the very inside edge near the paler encasing. These shadows will create form. As we learned earlier in the book, length or width of shadows will be different across a subject. Refer to shadow depths in ‘Shadow secrets’ in Chapter 4.

Whilst checking the colour of the whole bract, I noticed that it needed some warmth in the central creased area. I added a little soft glaze of the warm beige mix (3) to enhance this. This colour also defined the veins to the underside of the left spike, which appeared warmer in tone.

Creating depth on the twisted bracts

More pigment is added to the short dark shadow lines along the edge of the veins to make them look more prominent.

The finest lines of paint are added to enhance the narrow veins on the smaller spikes. The very tip of my pointed fullbodied sable brush is ideal for this. It is necessary to lift the brush up at a higher angle and use it very delicately to get a really fine line.

Defining the top veins of the bract with darker shadows. Once this was totally dry a thin soft glaze was also added to the top where the central floret creates a shadow on this area. Brown mix (7) was used for this, not the grey mixes (8 and 11). A grey mix would have been too overpowering and darkened the area too much. With this shadow mix the highlights still shine through without dulling the painting underneath.

Painting in the edges of spikes should be applied very carefully. The best way to do this is to ‘paint what you see’. Painting in the whole edge will make it look contrived so only paint parts of it and vary the thickness of line. To apply the edges on the pale spikes pictured here I used a pale mix of beige (2). On the spike above it, a pale mix of the gold/brown (3). On the darker spikes the brown (7) and warm brown/grey (8) were used.

Colour detailing

Each bract was very individual, varying from others in colour. This was exciting to paint as there were so many intricate differences. This top bract was blue, pale green and golden brown. The blues changed across its surface. I used both blue mixes (9) and (10). The warmer blue (9) was used towards the bottom where it meets the central inflorescence. The cooler blue (10) on the main top areas in between the pale green and beige tones.

At the top of the left bract I added deeper shadows to the twisting spikes in the same way as I did on the first bract. The smaller bracts behind were painted paler than the foreground bracts. This method of painting creates better depth. Objects in the foreground are always stronger in colour than those in the background.

I continued to paint around the clock-like structure. A few of the bracts were far darker than others; see the two larger bracts on the right. My darkest warm brown/grey (8) and cool grey (11) mixes were used in places here. I also spotted a pink tone and mixed a pink/beige (15) to lay underneath some areas of the browns and greys. There was also a strong warmth to the centre veined areas for which I mixed a new colour, rust/gold (14), to enhance these. The deepest creases were brown (7) and warm beige (4), which were applied beforehand. There were many colours to find and consider across each one of these bracts. It was a delightful process!

Painting the inflorescence

A third of the way through painting the bracts, I couldn’t resist starting the central inflorescence! I masked the little pistels out with masking fluid first. I then painted in the tiny florets with a pale version of the beige mix (2). A light version of the brown (7) was used to make the tiny gaps between the petals where they join together as buds. A full colour dot of brown (7) was added to the centre of each floret. This was the darkest point. On this particular Eryngium the sepals on each floret varied in colour from cool blue (9) to green/grey (12). Green/grey and a darker version of the blue featured more highly in the florets nearest to the bracts and in the deepest shadow areas between each floret. The whole inflorescence is slightly conical in shape and as we are looking down on it, the shadow tones will need to be deeper on the sepals around the edge and the bottom right side. The little sepals were defined with lighter and darker versions of the mixes to ensure light showed through.

Each floret has a circle of five sepals around it, which are applied randomly as they overlap and obscure each other sometimes. I dabbed in triangular shapes roughly at this stage. It is important to get the colour temperature transitions correct across the whole area to achieve good form first. These would all be tidied up later.

The ‘ugly’ stage before deeper shadows are applied to define the gaps between the florets and sepals. Notice top centre left and bottom right edges appear darker. This is because the light was shining from the left and puts these areas into shade. This will become more obvious in the next stage.

Fine colouring on the centre inflorescence

A little watered-down brown (7) was added to the edges of the individual florets to give them more form. Gradually shadows and the deepest shadows were added in using dark blue (9), green/grey (12) and grey (11). Again darker brown (7) was used to detail the centre of each floret.

Once everything is totally dry the masking fluid can be removed, with a clean finger or soft eraser, to reveal the little pistels. These are painted in a pale version of the blue (9), the blue with a red bias. I used this blue as they appeared lilac toned and warm in temperature. I varied the thickness of pigment, sometimes lighter, sometimes a little darker. Deepest shadows were again enhanced.

There were also a few little golden-brown edges, the leftover faded petals, which I painted with my gold/brown and warm beige mix (6). The golden edges just added that little something extra. After a few more tweeks to enhance the deepest shadows between the florets, it was complete. Next step to finish off all those bracts!

Tweeking tones with overlay colours

Once most of the bracts were painted and looking beautiful, I assessed whether I needed to colour enhance any parts. I did this very carefully by overlaying thin glazes of three colours. As the painting has been done with thin layers of colour the paint will not be affected by these soft thin glazes. • To boost the warmth and vibrancy on some of the golden brown areas, I added a very thin glaze of Transparent Yellow. • A thin glaze of Winsor Violet was added to darken the warm blue on the bracts. • To warm up a few areas of the blue bracts, I used a thin glaze of Permanent Rose. These are only added to the areas I feel it is necessary, not all over each bract.

APPENDIX

Useful Tips In this Appendix I have added a few useful tips. These have been collated from this book, my blogs and some are tips which have been given to students along the way.

Shaggy Ink Cap 'Exploded' by Jackie Isard.

CADMIUM PIGMENTS Cadmium watercolours can make colour mixes muddy and flat. This is because they are opaque and not transparent. For example:

Cadmium Yellow Deep could be replaced by Indian Yellow, which is transparent. A transparent pigment will look so much better when mixed and layered because it has see-through qualities. Try to avoid Cadmiums in watercolour botanical painting. A few great yellow pigments to have are Winsor Lemon, Transparent Yellow, New Gamboge and Indian Yellow. PERMANENCY Is Alizarin Crimson dulling your paintings? It looks really bright in the palette, so why should this be? This is because Alizarin Crimson (PR83) is a warm red with a slight maroon bias. If you like to use Alizarin Crimson, make sure you buy the permanent version, Permanent Alizarin Crimson (PR206) for total reliability. Permanent Alizarin Crimson is very permanent, rated ‘A’. Alizarin Crimson is moderately permanent, rated ‘B’ and fugitive. It will fade badly. You could substitute this colour for Permanent Carmine (Quinacridone pyrrolidone) as it is only a tiny bit cooler. Add a very small bit of Transparent Yellow to it and you’ll have a Permanent Alizarin Crimson match that will stay bright. Historically, Carmine was made from thousands of crushed kermes insects! Thank goodness for Quinacridone pyrrolidone! LIGHTFASTNESS Below is a list of pigments from different brands that should be avoided if sending a painting to exhibition. Lightfastness will be poor. Symbols for Winsor and Newton, Daniel Smith and Sennelier are

as follows. Other brands which use different symbols are noted in their lists below. I – Excellent lightfastness II – Very good lightfast III – Average lightfast IV – Poor lightfastness V – Very poor lightfastness AA – Extremely permanent A – Permanent B – Moderately durable C – Fugitive V – well, just don’t go there! n.r. – Not rated by ASTM W&N professional Alizarin Crimson (B) Rose Madder Genuine (B) Opera Rose (B) Aureolin (II – PY40 this fades to brown despite being rated II) Daniel Smith Opera Pink (IV) Alizarin Crimson (IV) Aureolin (II – PY40 this fades to brown despite being rated II) Sennelier Helios Purple (III) Dioxazine Purple (III) Quite a few Sennelier pigments are not rated (n.r). It is best to test

these first. Schmincke Symbols for Schmincke colours: ***** extremely lightfast **** good lightfastness *** lightfast ** limited lightfastness * less lightfast – not lightfast Alizarin Crimson (*) Madder Lake Deep (**) Rose Madder (**) Schmincke Violet (**) Indigo (**) Olive Green (**) These ‘Brilliant’ pigments are not rated. Advise to test first: Brilliant Red Violet Brilliant Opera Rose Brilliant Purple Brilliant Red Violet Brilliant Blue Violet Daler Rowney Symbols for Daler Rowney: **** Permanent *** Normally permanent ** Moderately permanent

* Fugitive Aureolin ** (PY40 this fades to brown despite being rated II) 21 colours offer **** 56 colours are rated *** White Nights Symbols for White Nights colours: *** high lightfast ** medium lightfastness * low lightfast Hanza yellow (*) Orange lake (*) Scarlet (*) Claret (*) Rose (*) Vermillion (*) Violet rose (*) Violet (*) Blue lake (*) M. Graham Alizarin crimson (III) CHECKING YOUR WORK Always try to stand back from your painting as you work. It pays to give yourself a little distance, as you will see whether the whole painting is working and if values are correct. It will highlight areas to

you that may still need a little more toning or colour adjusting, deepening or lightening. Taking a photograph with your mobile phone can also give you this information as it is a much-reduced image. Everything crisps up! LAYERED BAR A layered bar is a good exercise as it helps you to understand how important layering is in botanical painting. Smooth colour creates realism in painting and allows you to add fine detail at the end, comfortably and without smudging the layers beneath. Thinner layers make for better results! ERASING OUT AND MORE… Billy Showell’s Eradicator brush is my favourite for erasing out as it has nice stiff synthetic bristles and is thin enough to erase out fine veins. However, this is not the only thing I use this brush for. It can be used to erase out water droplets or little dots as you see in the texture on fruits. To do this you would use the corner edge of the brush and rotate it in a circular motion. It can also be used to bring back highlights that may have been lost along the way. Use the brush gently for this as it can break the surface fibres of paper that is weakly sized. You will never be able to get back to the white of the paper, unless the layer is pale and not a staining colour, but it can make a huge difference even erasing some of it out. It is especially useful for erasing negatively painted veins where a little paint may have seeped into them by accident. Magic eraser (a soft foam) can be used to erase out those flying

brush marks. It is quite abrasive so use it carefully and not too wet. Leave it to dry in between removal of pigment or you could end up taking a big chunk out of the paper’s surface. Try again a little later to remove more. If it is a big splodge consider adding in a leaf or something that relates to the painting before using magic eraser. I had to add an extra sloe berry to cover a Winsor Violet splodge once! BURNISHING When erasing out it can leave the paper surface a little rough. Burnishing can help press down the paper fibres again. Wait until the area is totally dry then use a smooth pebble or burnishing tool and a piece of silk to gently rub the fibres back down. Kitchen roll can be used too but silk is the very best option. Rub in a circular motion and use a little pressure over the silk. Repeat the process until you can feel that the fibres are flatter. It needs a little effort and can take some time to have a good effect. Some repairs may be impossible to get back to normal, depending how damaged the paper surface is. As with anything abrasive on watercolour paper, be gentle. It is often better, if possible, to add something in as long as it is botanically correct. TRACING YOUR DRAWING I always advise to prepare your drawing/composition on layout or tracing paper rather than draw straight onto watercolour paper. This is because the sized surface of watercolour paper can be very fragile. Lots of rubbing out will damage the surface and make painting difficult. Especially for fine detail and crisp edges. With this in mind,

when a drawing is ready to trace off, use an H pencil rather than an HB. Softer pencils leave graphite dust, which will get stuck to your painted surface and could cause discolouration to your paint mix. The other alternative if using a lighter weight 140lb/300gsm paper is to use a light pad to transfer the drawing. A less time-consuming method too! One thing to remember is that the light pad will be bright and the light pad will reflect back at you. Because of this you may press harder with the pencil than you think and when you turn off the light pad you have drawn heavy lines. All is not lost as you can gently dab off the excess using a Faber Castell Kneadable Rubber. Don’t use it like a rubber though, just dab it up and down! BENT POINTS ON BRUSHES Storing brushes correctly is the best way to avoid curled points. I lay mine flat over the edge of a cloth until they are totally dry before storing them upright in a jar. It is best to let them dry thoroughly otherwise the water will seep down into the ferule and it could rust. Sable brushes are delicate and have natural oils. Never use soap to wash them unless it is very mild. Repairing a bent sable brush can be done by soaking the bristles in warm water for a short while then twisting it to a point on a cloth to dry it. Once pointed, leave it to dry flat in a place where it cannot get bent again! When completely dry store the brush upright. Always use plastic covers to protect brush hairs when transporting them even in a paint brush roll mat or case. SOFTENING HARD PAINT To soften paint in a pan that is rock hard, use a pipette and place a

couple of drops of water onto the top of the pigment. Leave it to soak in for a while. You can also do this with paint from a tube that has dried hard in a pan or on a palette. I squeeze paint from my tubes into my paint box pans as I prefer tube pigments. Some pan pigments will be harder than others as they contain less binders. Sennelier pan pigments tend to stay softer as they use honey as a binder. LEFTOVER PAINT ON THE PALETTE Leftover paint on your palette does not need to be cleaned off at the end of each painting session. If you cover the palette with a plastic bag or cling film, it will keep for many weeks. Saving you time by not having to mix all your colours again and money because it is not wasted! GUM ARABIC Gum Arabic is sometimes used as a binder for tube paints to aid the flow of watercolour and keep it from drying out. When painting you can use a little bit to control the spread of watercolour. It also reduces staining and slows down drying time allowing you to work a little longer. The addition of Gum Arabic increases gloss and transparency. Only use a tiny amount mixed into your paint though. LIFTING PREPARATION Dry colour washes and staining colours can be easily lifted from paper by using this beforehand. Use it neat but sparingly. You may have an area on your composition that needs careful negative

painting or has blemishes on it. It is especially useful if you need to lift out a texture, highlights or fine lines. You can prepare these areas before you start painting. It can be used like masking fluid. Another method is to prepare the paper before painting. Apply three coats to your watercolour paper with a wet brush and let it dry completely overnight. Paint over it with dry brush technique, carefully trying not to lift the preparation beneath. To erase out use a little water to activate the area and a damp brush or sponge to remove paint. Do this very carefully or you will damage the paper surface fibres. Allow to dry completely and if needed you can now paint, using dry brush method, over the area again! OX GALL LIQUID Ox Gall liquid, like Gum Arabic, is used to increase flow when creating soft washes and to aid transparency. Add only two tiny drops to your water pot. Any more and it will be too strong. There are also synthetic versions of this medium. WATERCOLOUR GROUND Daniel Smith Watercolour Ground can be used to prepare watercolour paper with bad surface sizing. Just paint it on carefully with a brush. Once applied and totally dry, gently smooth it a little using a fine grade manicure sanding block. Daniel Smith make a few colours including transparent. Transparent should be used for watercolour paper that is not pure white. This product can also be used to rescue areas with damaged surface fibres, such as from erasing out. Thin a little in a small dish and add 10 per cent water.

Use a soft brush to blend the edges. As it makes the surface more porous than previously, it is best to use dry brush method over it. Soft, gentle glazing is possible but you need to take care not to move the painted ground beneath. It is archival and acid free.

Useful links Winsor & Newton Resources Winsor & Newton have an interesting page on their website about the history of pigments. It’s worth a read: www.winsornewton.com/uk/discover/articles-andinspiration/history-of-pigments A useful leaflet by W&N can be downloaded here. It contains all transparency, permanence and colour index numbers: www.winsornewton.com/assets/Leaflets/awcenglish.pdf To view all Winsor & Newton colours in the professional watercolour range: www.winsornewton.com/uk/shop/water-colour/professional-watercolour

Historical Botanical Artists Renaissance Art – Beginnings of Botanical Art www.asba-art.org/about-botanical-art/history-0 Albrecht Dürer – A pioneer of Botanical Art www.thecultureconcept.com/albrecht-durer-observing-nature

Botanical Art Collectors

Shirley Sherwood Celebrating botanical artists worldwide www.shirleysherwood.com/ The Shirley Sherwood Gallery – Exhibitions www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-in-the-gardens/shirley-sherwoodgallery-of-botanical-art The Shirley Sherwood Collection – Facebook www.facebook.com/shirleysherwoodcollection/

Botanical Society Diploma courses – Distance Learning Society of Botanical Artists www.soc-botanical-artists.org/ Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh www.rbge.org.uk/learn/diploma-and-degree-courses/rbge-diplomain-botanical-illustration/ Kew Certificate in Botanical Illustration www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/kew-certificate-in-botanicalillustration

Botanical Artist Resources Botanical Art and Artists A huge resource website hosted by Katherine Tyrell. Everything you need to know about botanical art: www.botanicalartandartists.com/ Visit this page for information on diploma courses:

www.botanicalartandartists.com/diplomas-and-certificates.html

Other Botanical Societies worth joining American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) www.asba-art.org/ Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) www.soc-botanical-artists.org/

Books Colour Observed, Enid Verity – A more scientific guide Color, Betty Edwards – A practical guide

Art Supplies UK Cassart www.cassart.co.uk/ Cowling and Wilcox www.cowlingandwilcox.com/ Great Art www.greatart.co.uk/ Jackson’s Art www.jacksonsart.com/ Ken Bromley Art Supplies www.artsupplies.co.uk/ L. Cornelissen – www.cornelissen.com/

Raw pigments in jars. (Photo courtesy of L. Cornelissen)

If in Venice, visit Arcobaleno Pigmenti. (Photo courtesy of Pierpaolo Frigerio)

Society for All Artists (SAA) – Great discounts! www.saa.co.uk/

Studio Lighting

Daylight Company – Good selection of lighting for Artists www.daylightcompany.com/ Jackson’s Art www.jacksonsart.com/

Facebook botanical groups worth joining Botanical Art for Beginners www.facebook.com/groups/376842999001867/ Botanical Artists www.facebook.com/groups/botanicalartists/ Scientific Botanical Illustrations www.facebook.com/groups/2875169529225330/?ref=share

Jackie Isard Botanicals Jackie Isard Botanicals website: www.jibotanicals.co.uk/ Jackie Isard Botanicals on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackieisardbotanicalnaturepainting/ Jackie Isard Botanicals Blog: www.jibotanicals.com/ Jackie Isard on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jackieisard

Index ASTM ratings 18 backing board 15 balance 9 base tone colours 46, 50, 81 Bauer, Franz and Ferdinand 11 beige 57–58 berries 91–95 bias 22, 24–27 black pigment (mixing black) 34 botanical greys 55, 61–65 bright mixes 40–41, 59–60 brown 39, 58 brush care 108 brushes 13 burnishing 107 cadmiums 30, 105 colour index numbers 17–18 colour mixing exercise charts 38 colour swatch exercise 48–49 colour temperature 20–21, 38, 74–77 colour temperature diagram 77 colour temperature transition 74–77 colour wheel 9–10, 20, 23 colour wheel pigments 25–26 complimentary colours 20 conker example 72

contrast values 45 cool and warm primaries 22–24 cool and warm tones 74–77, 83, 92 drawing detail 80–91 drawing equipment 15 Dürer, Albrecht 11, 110 edges 84 enhancing colour 91–93 equipment 13–15, 111 eraser 15 erasing (Eradicator brush) 107 exercise charts 38 fine detail 95–103 fine liner pen 15 fugitives 22, 105 glazing 68, 82–83, 86, 92 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 10 gouache 35 granulation 19, 82 green charts 51–52, 54 greens 31, 51–55 gum arabic 27, 108 Harris, Moses 9 hue 20 inbetweenies 23 intensity (Pigment intensity) 20–21, 38, 51 intermediate (Tertiary) colours 20 layered bar 68, 107 layering colour 68, 79–89 lichen green 53 lifting preparation 108 light and colour 44–45

light pad 80, 108 lightfastness 18, 106 lighting 14, 74, 80 magic eraser 107 magnifying glass 14, 48, 74 mauve and purple 27 mixing with primaries 37–41 muddy mixes 25, 37, 40 my palette of colours 28–30 negative painting 35, 64–65, 88 Newton, Sir Isaac 9 observation 8 olive green 53 opacity 18, 31–32, 34, 37, 67, orange 30, 59 overlay colour 67, 76, 103 ox gall liquid 108 painting in the negative 35, 64–65, 72 palette 13 pan rating symbols 18 pans 28 paper 13 peep hole 48, 74 pencils 15 permanence 18–19, 105 photo distortion 79 pigment behaviour 37–38 pigment choice 14 pigments you can mix 31–34 pipette 28, 109 primary colours 20 primary exercise charts 38

professional pigment 14 purple and mauve 27 rating symbols 18 red 59 reflected light 92–93 reversible mapping pen 15 rhythm 8 saturation 20 saving money 30–36, 109 secondary colours 20 seeing colour 43–49 separating colours 19 shades 20, 26, 61 shadow deception 71 shadow depth 70 shadow overlays 72 shadow tones 62, 64 shadow underlays 72 shadows deep 73 single pigment colour 17, 24 staining pigment 19 swatch making 46–49, 81–82 temperature 20–21, 38, 74–77 tertiary (Intermediate) colours 20 three-way mixing 37–41, 55 tints 20, 26 tonal values 68 tracing 107 train your brain 43 transparency 18 tube rating symbols 18 tubes 27

underlay colour 67, 69, 76, 81, 92 values 44, 68 vivid pigments 31 warm and cool primaries 22–24 warm and cool tones 75 watercolour ground 109 white flowers 64 white pigment 34–35 yellow flowers 65