"Luminous" Latest Watercolor of a Colorful Floral Painting in Yellow and Pink

"Luminous" P.J. Cook

Colorful watercolor in yellow and pink flowers is a new original painting offered in a nice gold wood frame size 22" x 28" Price is $950 and will brighten up any room with the luminous color. I set up this still life with the flowers and apples and then painted the original watercolor. For more information on purchasing this watercolor painting send an email to" pj@pjcookartist.com.
Thanks

Almost Finished Pink Lily Flower Watercolor Painting

I have started painting the flower centers on the pinkest flowers that are in the middle of the watercolor. This is a closeup of the flowers where I am working now. These are also my focal point in the painting. For the flower centers I  have used new gamboge yellow, cobalt blue, brown madder, burnt sienna and cad orange for the watercolor paints.

I have been sharing this painting with my watercolor class in Old Saybrook, CT every Sunday. Each week I bring it in to show the class how I am progressing on the watercolor and answer any questions on how I may have painted a particular area. This Sunday I hope to have the finished painting to show the class. If you want more information on watercolor classes send me an email.  My next post will have the finished painting so check back to see it! Thanks.

Painting Pink Lily's In Watercolor, Warm and Cool Colors

When you compare the previous posts studio.pjcookartist.com/2011/01/next-step-in-lily-flower-watercolor with this one you will notice that I have added more and more detail to the background and the flowers and buds. This is a large painting so it will take some time to complete large detailed areas.

As I am painting I keep in mind that I want the right side of the painting to be warmer than the left side. The light source is coming from the right and I want the painting to reflect that. I have worked with thalo blue and cobalt blue on the left side of the watercolor painting to keep it cool. The leaves with brighter yellow color is sap green. The warmer light of the sun is hitting them and I have accomplished that by having cool areas and warm areas in the painting.

Next Step In Lily Flower Watercolor, Painting the Background

When you compare this photo with the two previous photos in the earlier posts shown below you can see that I have covered most of the white paper. The painting is coming together, I can see the mass of lily flowers, the leaves and the background. I have more detail on the left side of the background verses the right where I have suggested flowers and leaves. I did that out of focus look on the right background area by painting that area wet into wet.

I will continue adding more detail but still stepping back and seeing the painting as a whole. Right now I can see my focal point clearly and that is the two flowers in the bottom center of the painting. They stand out from the others because they are bolder in color and have more detail. Remember I still have the masking fluid on the detailed centers of each flower. I will not remove that until I am almost finished with the watercolor painting.

Starting Watercolor of Lily Flowers - How To Stretch Watercolor Paper

First of all, I like to work on several paintings at one time. I may have up to 4 paintings in various stages of completion on any given day. The watercolor above is on a full sheet (22" by 30") of D'Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.  I prefer to work on flat paper so I take the extra time to stretch the watercolor paper to prevent buckling while I am painting. This technique of stretching the paper is described below.

I fill the bathtub with several inches of water and then I soak the watercolor paper for 2 minutes. The large sheet of paper will need to be moved around as it is soaking because it is wider than a standard tub. I then lay the paper onto a thin piece of marine plywood and staple all along the edges of the paper about every 2-3 inches. The staples can be seen in the photo above. I use a heavy duty stapler with 1/4" deep staples so they do not go through the back of the plywood. I let this dry before starting the painting.

Any plywood can be used for stretching but it should be primed before using because it will be repeatedly getting wet each time you stretch paper.

For more examples of flowers on watercolor paper follow this link http://pjcookartist.com/Paintings-PJCook.html