In the video “Painting Lupines with a Wet in Wet Background,” Angela shows how to paint lupines with a technique that mixes colors on a wet background, making the painting richer and more textured. She explains step by step how to prepare the background and then add the lupines, making it a great lesson for anyone looking to explore the fluidity of watercolors and add depth to their artwork.
Visit Angela’s site here to see the exciting courses Angela offers!
In this tutorial, Angela returns to the subject of lupins after an initial session faced video quality issues. She begins by displaying several background examples from her studio, starting points for new artworks. Angela suggests these pre-painted canvases as a solution to the challenge of a blank canvas, easing into the painting process.
Using a lupin reference photo, Angela outlines the characteristic features of the flower’s stem and blossoms. She mentions that this technique applies to other flowers, like delphiniums and foxgloves. This time, Angela incorporates a background to add depth to the scene, contrasting her previous method of using a white backdrop to highlight the flowers.
For the background, Angela selects green gold and phthalo turquoise, envisioning how the lupins will fit into the scene. She paints the stems and blossoms, using Verdi Tour blue for the flowers and adding burnt umber for the stems to mimic their natural hues.
As she progresses, Angela ensures her brush strokes remain varied to capture the flowers’ loose and diverse look. She explores depth by blending colors and allowing them to intermingle, suggesting clusters of blossoms. Angela also uses negative painting techniques to indicate leaf shapes and introduces distant flowers with subtle washes and wet-on-wet techniques to create a sense of depth and distance.
Angela works loosely, allowing the watercolors to flow freely and enhance the artwork’s aesthetic appeal. She concludes by cautioning against overworking the piece.
Angela’s guidance on painting lupins includes strategically using backgrounds and color layering to achieve a realistic depth.
