Painting Bearded Irises

Watercolour & Gouache Techniques for Painting Flowers from Photos

Last year (2021) I decided that I wanted to paint a composition of bearded irises from some of the many photographs I have taken over the years. Every Summer I look out for these beauties and even try to "visit" them at my local Botanical Gardens, with view to capturing them in "new poses". I have so many photographs of these flowers, which has enabled me to study them through painting.

I created this piece using watercolour and gouache and wanted to explore the detail I could achieve by mostly working in layers with watercolour. Often when I paint using both watercolour and gouache, I mostly layer with watercolour first and then highlight, as well as add depth with the gouache, sometimes mixing a little bit of both watercolour and gouache together to achieve the right colour and tone.

Starting Points

I started by sketching out the flowers from individual photographs. Fortunately for me, the photographs I used were taken on the same day, therefore the light conditions were the same throughout, which is something to consider when creating compositions from individual images. My sketches are always rough but with all of the necessary lines, marks and details for transferring to another piece of paper. Once I was satisfied with the line drawings I transferred them onto a smooth hot-pressed watercolour paper using a lightbox. I recommend working in this way because it keeps the work clean and starting with sketches/drawings allows for mistakes and erasing, which is not what is wanted on the original final piece.

Tip: I keep a clean sheet of paper under my hand when I am working at all times, so that I don't transfer any dirt, grease or graphite marks onto the watercolour paper. Oils from skin can act as a barrier to watercolour and this is how I keep the surface of the paper clean and white.

Once my drawings were transferred into the composition I wanted, I added my first layers of watercolour. I mostly work background-to-foreground, therefore to work on one of the flowers it was necessary to add in some of the green stems and leaves.

Progress

You can see in the video (very quickly!) how I have started with a layer of watercolour and have added the depth and detail over that. With a thin layer of watercolour I am still able to see my pencil lines as a guide.

A little bit of white gouache added to highlight and then blended in. Place the gouache on a dry layer of watercolour, wipe the brush and blend.

Tip: When I am blending gouache and I don't want my brush to be too wet, I keep a small, damp, natural sponge in my hand to wipe my brush on. This takes off the excess colour and keeps the brush tip from drying out as there is just enough water on the brush to shift the gouache slightly.

Nearly there.....

Using this approach for painting the bearded irises enabled me to add rich deep tones of various hues, as well as add very light strokes of colour in areas where I wanted it to appear transparent. Although it was time consuming to create, I enjoyed the process very much. I hope that you have enjoyed learning about my process and seeing this piece too.

Many thanks for viewing!

Shop Flower Paintings