Here’s a step-by-step guide on painting Poppies with watercolor.
First step is to prepare your materials: Printed line art on Arches Watercolor Paper, LifeAfterBreakfast Handmade Watercolors, Paint brush, Water in a cup, and Tissue.
We’ll color one petal at a time and create a gradient on each petal. You’ll want to create shadows, midtones, and highlights–at least 3 value levels on each petal.
Wet your brush and swirl the brush tip around the pigment. Apply a creamy mixture of pigment onto the paper. Apply pigment only on 1/3 of the petal.
Dilute the edge with water, and fill in the rest of the petal with water. Make sure you move slowly with the brush on the edge of the petals, so you get nice, crisp edges.
You can apply more creamy pigment on the dark area to deepen the shadows. You can also apply a secondary color (orange) onto a little part of the midtone area.
Skip petals to let each gradient dry. Don’t paint next to wet areas so that the pigments don’t flow out of the shape.
Apply pigment on the shadow areas: areas of the petal that are close to the base/tip, and areas that have petals overlapping above it.
Dab your brush in tissue to clean it, right before getting water for your gradient. This will create cleaner and brighter highlights.
On your mixing plate, get creamy mixtures of yellow, magenta, and blue. Mix these evenly until you get a dark gray color.
Use the dark gray pigment to color the center of the flower, and to darken areas. Continue coloring the each petal, and then mix a green hue (yellow + blue) to paint the stem and leaves.
Using the tip of the brush, and a very dry mixture, outline some creases on the flower.