New Cottage Garden Painting

Cottage Bouquet (c) Melanie Pruitt 2012

I was really excited to see how many of my Christmas gifts were art supplies! I received my first set of Kolinsky Sable watercolor brushes! I knew if I ever tried one, I would never be able to go back. And I was right. They are SO awesome and I find I can do things with them I had never been able to do before!

I also received a book that has been very inspirational! After pouring through it and thinking how the ideas could translate into my own style, I began to prepare to try a new painting.

I wish I had taken pictures of the process. But I will tell you a little about it. I began by crumpling kleenex and randomly dropping them on the paper. I suded these as the placement for my whites and drew around them. Then I wetted the whole sheet of paper and, using only three colors (Cobalt, New Gamboge, Rhodonite (pink)) I laid in the first layer saving the white areas. I also used some pressed hydrangea flowers and laid them in for texture (I painted a few of them on the back before putting them on) and I used a little salt in a couple of places. Then I let it dry.

My husbands first comment was “It looks like the Sixties” – which made me roll my eyes, but he was right. It looked like a tie dyed shirt. Then, I took a full day looking at it and sketching in random flowers until it grew into a full bouquet. This is when the real work began.

I began layering color over the flowers, separating them out one by one. At the same time, I began layering the background. It took several days and many many layers of washes until it was done. But what fun it was!!

I didn’t start out with the intent of only using three colors, but after a while, I felt challenged to see if I could complete it with only mixing the three colors I started with! And I did!

Here’s a picture of how it might looked framed

You can see it for sale in my Etsy shop HERE.

Thanks for letting me share this fun process with you! I am now working on a second painting inspired by this book. This time I’m taking pictures of the process so I can show you!

Tags: Art, bouquet, cottage, flower, flowers, Garden, melanie pruitt, Painting, rose, the creators palette, thecreatorspalette, tulip, Watercolor