My new garden has proved to be a treasure trove of lovely flowers. Every week something new bursts into bloom. We have pots on our deck which are bursting with Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) so I decided to paint them. I have used the Jean Haines style of watercolor painting successfully in the past and decided these flowers would work for that too. http://jeanhaines.com
I started out with some sketches from my photos.
Once I had an idea of the format I wanted, I began by roughly sketching the flower heads in place using a pencil. Then I created a background painting by dropping thin watercolor on the paper and letting it run and mingle on the diagonal. I spattered and used clean water to soften edges and move the paint around. I kept in mind where my flowerheads would be. I created several backgrounds, not knowing which one would work out best.
After the background was dry, I painted the flowerheads in wet-in-wet, very loosely. Going back into the paint with more pigment as and where I though it was needed, and using clean water to soften edges. I tried to keep it loose and free as much as possible.
My flowers are a lot more formed that Jean Haines' would be, but I was very pleased with the end result, and it was such a fun, exciting way to paint.