How to Paint Flowers Like Donna Dewberry
Donna Dewberry is a professional artist who has an instructional painting show called "The Donna Dewberry Show" on Oregon Public Broadcasting. She is renowned for her "one stroke" painting method used mostly in her flowers but also in butterflies and birds. Dewberry employs a wet-blend technique where she dips in multiple colors with her brush at once and allows the colors to blend while applying the paint to the canvas during each stroke.
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Things You'll Need
- Pencil
- Canvas board
- Flat paintbrush
- Acrylic paints
- Palette
- Stippling brush
Instructions
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1
Draw the outline of the flowers on the canvas board lightly using a pencil.
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2
Dip your flat paintbrush in two contrasting colors such as bright yellow on one side of the brush and dark blue on the other side of the brush. Work the paint into the bristles by rubbing it back and forth in a clean section of the palette before applying the paint to the canvas. Make sure to rub the strokes back and forth laterally rather than in circles to keep the two colors from over-blending into one color.
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3
Apply the brush to the canvas where you have outlined the flower with the brighter color on the outside edge. Wiggle your brush gently side to side as you move in an arc to form the first petal. Dip in the two colors and work the paint into the bristles in the same manner as before. Start the next petal by slightly overlapping the first and repeat the same stroke pattern.
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4
Work your way around the outside of the flower in the same fashion as in previous steps. If there are multiple layers of petals, begin the next row by slightly overlapping the first with the arc of each petal in the new row. Work from the outside of the flower row by row toward the center.
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5
Paint a circle in the center of the flower by placing the brush in the center and rotating it 360 degrees. Allow the flower to dry. Add some detail to the center by dabbing a stippling brush in the darkest color first such as dark brown and dabbing the center with the paint. Dab the brush in a highlight bright color and add a few dots around one edge and a few toward the center as a highlight.
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Tips & Warnings
Some flowers may not need center circles. Refer to images of flowers for inspiration and ideas.
References
- Photo Credit painted easter egg isolated on the white background image by Natika from Fotolia.com
