Happy Halloween!!

I apologize for the late post! I've been extremely tired lately and just haven't been at the top of my art game in the past few days. To make up for it, this will be a lengthier post on one of my recent watercolor painting in my Moleskine Journal. Seriously, I can't stop painting in it since I bought it...

Step 1

Moleskine pages are easy to buckle so before I begin the first washes, I wet both sides of the page with a big mop brush and lots of water. This is done to prevent extreme buckling and usually after the sketch is complete. Let it dry and begin painting! I didn't really know what colors I wanted but decided to do another pink rose with shades of yellow to make it "glow". Start the underpainting with loose washes of Quinacridone Rose and Azo Yellow. It's important to keep your paints transparent and not opaque so you retain the textures after glazing.

Step 2

Sorry for the bad quality photo. In this step, I continued to strengthen the layers of paint with multiple glazes. Use a wet-on-wet technique and blend the yellow into the pink to create a radiant orange. I purposely wanted softer outer petals with a vibrant center. Leave highlights white for now. 

Step 3

It was too orange in the previous step so I proceed to add more pink and add more Azo yellow paint to the center and sides of the petal. 

Step 4

Layering is key! Add even more glazes of Quinacridone Rose and Azo yellow. I also diluted some purple and painted the shadows with it to bring out the focal point. To achieve a vibrant painting, be patient and always layer on more paint.  

Step 5

At this point, I began to line the outer petals with a white gel pen. It helps to bring out the contrast and further enhance highlights where the light would hit. Give it a final overall wash and done! I named this piece "Primrose" after the little girl in Hunger Games. Not sure why..it just seemed to fit.

Please note: some of the photos were taken with flash so the colors may seem more intense in the last few steps. The painting above is most true to color accuracy (maybe a bit less saturated than the original). It's tough scanning a moleskine but if anyone can successfully do it, please let me know! :)