LEVEL: BEGINNER
Scattered Flowers
A collage of colorful flowers creates a bold, contemporary painting that adds a bright splash of color to any space. The flowers are laid out at random, so minimal drawing skills are necessary.
STEP ONE
Using the larger bristle brush, apply the brown underpainting in long, broad, vertical brushstrokes. Completely cover the surface of the canvas. Let dry.
STEP TWO
Put a small amount of pyrrole red or alizarin crimson paint on your palette and wet with water from your spray bottle.
Using the small brush, loosely block in where you want your flowers on your canvas. After blocking in the basic shapes, you can go back and draw some of the details like leaves and individual petals.
STEP THREE
To make yellow roses, mix some light-yellow paint and make a spiral of yellow brushstrokes in each sketched circle where you want a rose. I bunched the roses in groups of threes. Then add a few triangular outer petals.
STEP FOUR
Mix viridian green and pyrrole red to make a dark green. Apply this green all around where you want to add leaves and a few short stems.
STEP FIVE
Mix up piles of reds, purples, and pinks for the rest of the flowers. Using your large brush, paint flower petals using your darkest colors first. Then work your way into the lighter colors. Be generous with the amount of paint used, especially for the lighter colors and top layers of paint. These layers should be thick and luscious. They will add some nice texture to your painting.
STEP SIX
Mix up the cerulean blue and white paint. Add a touch of mixed paint from a neighboring pile to tone down the intensity of the blue. If the blue turns gray, add more blue to the mixture.
Using your large brush, apply this blue mixture between the flowers and leaves all the way to the edges of the canvas. You can leave some open areas for now. We will come back and finish the background later.
STEP SEVEN
Add highlights by adding more white and yellow to the rose paint piles. Use thick strokes with the skinny edge of your large brush.
STEP EIGHT
Add a few more layers within your brightest and lightest flower colors. Add more dark purples, browns, and pinks as desired.
Add more yellow to the green mixture, along with a touch of the cerulean blue mixture. Using your small brush, add details such as the center of each purple flower and the smaller leaves.
STEP NINE
Mix more cerulean blue and white paint, with a touch of leftover purple mixture. Gently clean up the edges and open spaces of the painting with final brushstrokes of the cerulean blue mixture.
Sign or initial your painting with leftover paint of your choosing. If desired, mix some of the remaining paints together and finish the edges of the painting.
