#WorldWatercolorGroup - Watercolor Botanical Painting Tutorial - Saswati Misra - Doodlewash
Featured Artists

WATERCOLOR TUTORIAL: “Completing the Botanical Painting of Protea” by Saswati Misra

Written by Saswati Misra

The following is a short tutorial of a botanical painting I hope you’ll find helpful. I worked from a photo reference provided by Wendy Sinclair (photos for artists group on Facebook).

#WorldWatercolorGroup - Protea Watercolor Tutorial by Saswati Misra - Doodlewash

I used Strathmore 140lbs Hot Pressed paper and professional Winsor & Newton watercolours for this one. Hot pressed papers work best for me when it comes to botanical works as these do not involve large, repetitive washes of water, so it dries out quickly and is good for detailing. I used pure Sable Kolinsky brushes from Winsor & Newton for spotting and stippling while for wet on wet washes, I used a Grumbacher semi-synthetic Brush (No.10).

My Botanical Painting Steps

In the beginning, I started with a very light sketch of the flower following the reference photo. I rubbed the extra graphite from my sketch with a kneaded eraser to protect my painting from unwanted graphite marks and stains. (Photo. 1)

#WorldWatercolorGroup - Botanical Painting - Protea Watercolor Tutorial by Saswati Misra - Doodlewash
1. Light Sketch of the Image
Using a miniature series spotting brush (Winsor & Newton size 000), I added details for the petals and used Grumbacher semi synthetic brush for the remaining wet on wet technique. In this painting, I mainly used dry brushing and wet in wet process. (Photo. 2)
#WorldWatercolorGroup - Botanical Painting - Protea Watercolor Tutorial by Saswati Misra - Doodlewash

 

2. Dry Brushing and Wet on Wet  Technique in Basic Layers

Tissue paper was used for lifting out areas to differentiate the leaf margins from one another and the veins. For the leaves, I used a basic thin watery layer of New Gamboge and Sap Green. Then I painted the darkest darks, with a thick creamy mixture of Raw Umber, Sap Green and Olive Green for the ones facing the light! For the cooler areas, I used Dioxazine-Purple to darken the dark shadows. (Photo. 3)

#WorldWatercolorGroup - Botanical Painting - Protea Watercolor Tutorial by Saswati Misra - Doodlewash

 

3. Painting the Lightest Lights and Darkest Darks

I finished the painting by completing the main branch with Sap, New Gamboge, Light Red and Raw Umber. (Photo. 4).

#WorldWatercolorGroup - Botanical Painting - Protea Watercolor Tutorial by Saswati Misra - Doodlewash

 

4. Finished Botanical Painting of Protea

Hope you all will enjoy seeing my process. I would love to hear from you all!! 

Cheers and Happy Painting!

Saswati Misra

I am Saswati Chakraborty from Kolkata, the city of Joy (India). I love to paint and I mainly work in pure watercolors. For me, art is a dedication, where I strictly follow, the three step approach: planning, research and execution. I believe there are no shortcuts to success. For a good professional painting, a right planning and execution is necessary. I have learnt throughout my tenure of 6 years that with sincerity and perseverance along with the right knowledge, success is bound to come. Click Here To Read My Guest Feature!

See author's posts

Recommended11 recommendationsPublished in Featured Artists, Tutorials

30 Comments

0 Shares

30 thoughts on “WATERCOLOR TUTORIAL: “Completing the Botanical Painting of Protea” by Saswati Misra”

Leave Me A Comment!

Discover more from Doodlewash®

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading