I have a few thoughts as I watch this footage. You may ask "Why subject myself to THAT tutorial? Yes it's taking me hours and hours. BUT, what I'm finding is a few (3) unexpected revelations -
#1 it's forcing me to practice some very basic watercolor skills like filling in all these darks. As I progress through the painting, I am trying different ways of painting the same thing, which forces me to practice - I try painting wet in wet and I'll also try painting the same background wet in dry and it's a useful exercise to try different things for the same intended effect (dark background).
#2 - With all these little flowers sprinkled through the background, although I'm painting 'tight', I'm practicing wet on wet dreamy melty edges which is an advanced skill but there are LOTS of opportunities to try as there are many little yellow flowers in the background. Some work out and some don't. Because there is so much to look at, viewers aren't going to readily notice 'mistakes'.
So this painting takes a long time, but it forces you to do what 'real' artists do to progress - do a series and do studies, and we are kind of doing that in this painting because we have to paint the same kind of dark background with melty dreamy yellow flowers over and over AND OVER.
It's good practice. You'll learn a lot. DO IT! And I'm tucking sessions of painting this piece in between shorter, more fun exciting paintings like the cone flower and butterfly I just finished. You certainly should not expect to finish this in a day or two. I'm taking weeks. But do what's best and MOST IMPORTANTLY most enjoyable.
Because there is a third surprise, and that is that when you get into a groove of painting this, it's relaxing, dare I say meditative?
That being said, this painting is an advanced tutorial in that some of the flowers I didn't paint directly from any reference, mainly the background yellow supporting ones - I painted them intuitively with a soft wet in wet approach that is the opposite of what I would do for a more beginner oriented tutorial.
To see all the tutorials I have available, go to rachelsstudio.com/patreonindex or rachelsstudio.com/tutorialindex My most complete and active place for tutorials right now is Patreon.
Learn how to paint negatively the easy way, paint super darks, paint soft dreamy flower edges, and more!
Get ready to understand how my process works if you are new!
Tea, milk and cream explained - https://youtu.be/Yt3OSpDKS9I - Please remember this video is 3 years old and my videos are better these days (I hope)
How paper moisture interacts with paint consistency - 6 pairings - https://youtu.be/5u-GZzRiZgY
Water control secrets - https://youtu.be/jkOGugVyn5o
If you watch these or any videos of mine, say hi and or/leave me a comment and let me know any feedback so I can keep improving my tutorials!
You will receive:
*Downloadable Tracing
*Downloadable Reference
*PDF with a link to the tutorial you will have indefinite access to
*Watch me paint in real time (6+ hours) with commentary
*Watch at your pace, any time
Also, when you post on social media, share that you painted from my tutorial - I appreciate it so much and it helps me continue to grow! You may sell your originals and cards from this painting.
Please contact me if you have questions and I would love you to share it with my online community on my Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/rachelswatercolorworkshop
Visit my YouTube channel to get a taste of my teaching style at https://www.youtube.com/user/rachelsstudiodotcom/videos