How to Paint a Black Eyed Susan With Watercolors
Watercolor is a method of painting that uses pigments mixed with water. Because these pigments are thinned, they create semi-opaque shades which are layered for richness. Watercolor paintings are notable for their muted tones and soft, transparent qualities, making them ideal for natural landscapes and delicate objects like flowers. The Black (or Brown) Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta, is a flower with a big blackish-brown center and thin yellow petals. It is also called a Gloriosa or a Yellow Ox-eye Daisy.
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Instructions
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Lay out your watercolors and fill a cup with tepid water. Set out two or three different sized brushes, ranging from very small to medium, depending on the level of detail you want in your picture. Watercolor brushes should be round or flat. Lay some paper towels by the mug so that you can dry your brush. Prop up a notebook of watercolor paper on an easel or lay a sheet on a flat surface with ample light. If you have a real Black Eyed Susan, set it in a place where you can observe it as you work. Otherwise, you can paint from a picture or from memory.
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Make a light sketch with a small brush and some water, or a pencil. Lay out the general form of the flower, making it big enough to take up the majority of the page. You may want to paint more than one flower in a bouquet so that you can paint multiple flowers from different angles. Block in some of the background, like the table or the vase if you want your painting to have a more complete look. Note how the center of the flower forms a dome, like an upside down D, and pay close attention to the shape of the petals. These petals are long and narrow with a rounded point at the tip, overlapping near the center, fanning out and curving down at different lengths and intervals. Some varieties have lots of petals; some only have a few. Sketch the stem and the leaves as well. The stem is generally long and thin, and the leaves are usually either elongated pear-shapes or slightly elongated ovals, depending on the whether you are drawing a northern or southern variety.
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Dip a medium-small brush in the cup of water and dab the brush in the brown. Dab the brown on the lid of the set or on a plastic plate, then rinse the brush and add a little black. Mix the brown and black and use this to paint a layer on the center of the flower, making a dome shape. The color will not be opaque--that is OK. You can add more layers if you want it to be darker once it dries. Don't try to add too much color at once because you will simply rough up the paper and lose the effect of layered color.
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Rinse your brush or select another brush and dip it into the yellow. Notice where the very light, almost white, highlights are on the petals of the flower. Paint the petals a thin layer of yellow, avoiding the places you want to keep white. Make sure the yellow is not too thick or dark so you can add more layers later, creating a shading effect.
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Paint the stem and the leaves a light shade of green, leaving white highlights on the leaves where you see them.
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Add a layer of black-brown to the center dome, being specific about where you use these colors. Note where the light hits the dome, and leave that spot slightly lighter than the rest. Add layers of color to the darker areas after each layer dries (usually about five minutes). The goal is to create shading by adding progressively darkening layers to the shadows and leaving the other parts alone.
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Do the same for the petals, stem and leaves, adding progressively darker layers for the shadows. You may need to mix a little red or brown with the yellow to add depth around the center. These colors may also be needed to add lines down the petals, as some varieties exhibit. Make one side of the stem darker--the side opposite the highlight you made on the dome. Darken the leaves around the edges, and try to show the veins of the leaves without darkening the lines too much.
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Fill in the background or apply a light wash of blue around the flower to make it really stand out.
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References
- Photo Credit black eyed susan flower image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com
