Daisies in Watercolour

Daisy Daze

The beginning of a large watercolour

Yesterday morning I walked with my dogs through a beautiful meadow that is  full of wild flowers. From a distance all you see are dots of golden yellow buttercups and white of wild daisies.These are the larger ox eye daisies that stand tall and move in the breeze. Unlike the smaller daisies that sit flat to the ground these flowers seem to have personalities of their own.

The combination of colours in the field which stands on a hill when against a clear blue sky is so dramatic. This scene really tempted me to  pick up my brushes and experiment. I sat quietly listening to  birdsong and allowed colour to  work its magic on paper. There is nothing compared to painting on location in natural light for capturing clean fresh exciting colour.

I decided to paint the position of the flowers as they grew but made a choice to bring  everything I felt about the colour in the location into the background. A trick that has always worked well for me. Once I had my three main subjects  in their places it was simple to work on the  interesting texture and effects else where in each section of this large painting.

" Seaweed Effect" 

My new texture technique.

I have been delighted to look into new ways to add texture in simple techniques that are easy to call upon in a variety of ways. My new " Seaweed Effect" adds almost 3D effects which are really enjoyable to bring into any painting.

 Reverse " Seaweed Effect" leading away from the subject.

Creating Beautiful Petal Edges and Careful Use of Watermarks

The outer edge of the daisy in this section is really beautiful and sits against gentle granulation from French Ultramarine Blue. The watermarks really create soft patterns bringing drama and impact to the piece in such a subtle way.

A warm edge against glowing  yellows.

With the focus on gorgeous petalks I need a background to make them sing beautifully too!

I have been painting flowers since I was around five years old and daisies have always without fail appeared every year. I feel many more paintings of these simple white flowers about to appear and I can't wait to pick up my brushes today!

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