Question from Phyllis:
On another topic, more art than nature study, I have a question for you: do you have any tips for drawing/painting white flowers? We're trying to draw these flowers with watercolor pencils right now. In the past, I've drawn a background behind, and left the white. Any other ideas? It's hard!
I did some experimenting and found a way to easily include white flowers in your nature journal. Using a watercolor wash and then putting the white flowers on top is one solution to the problem.
Steps:
- Make a watercolor wash on your page and then let it dry.
- Sketch lightly with pencil your flower's leaves, stem, and blossom.
- Use watercolors and paint your leaves and stems.
- Use white watercolor paint and very little water to fill in the white flower, keeping the paint very opaque.
- Let your paints dry and then go back to add darker details and shading.
I use tube watercolors with great success.
We made a short video tutorial for you to watch.
I really like this book and even though it says it is for use with acrylics, I find it perfectly applicable for watercolors as well. If you click the Amazon.com link below, you can preview the pages inside. I love the visual index at the end of the book.
Many families wait to offer watercolors from a tube to their children. In our family, we found these watercolors to be a lot of fun and the boys learned early how to only squirt out a little at a time. I gave each one their own set along with their own palette and brushes. With a little training, you can offer these paints in your family as well.
Enjoy!
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
