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Hi everyone,

Here is Part 1 of the Gardenia tutorial. In this video I paint the flower. I have a few Gardenia bushes that grow in my garden. I cut one of the flowers and bought it inside to photograph it for this painting.

I've divided the tutorial up into 3 videos. In parts 2 and 3 I paint all the leaves.

Part 2 is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31374317

Part 3 is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31374409

Some of the techniques used in this tutorial are:

# mixing colour on the paper

# glazing

# lifting pigment to create highlights 

# working wet on wet and wet on dry

# softening paint edges

All of the files you need are below. I've included a pdf copy of the supplies list for those who can't open word docx files.

I hope you enjoy it.

💚

Files

Gardenia Watercolour Tutorial for Patreon Part 1

This is Part 1 of the watercolour Gardenia tutoral for Patreon.

Comments

Sanctity Johnson

I haven't gone through all the comments, so apologies if this was asked before. Do you mainly avoid using colors like buff titanium (or opaque colors like Chinese white) in representing light or white in florals because they aren't transparent? I'm tempted to use buff titanium because I have it, but it seems to be a controversial color. I don't know the pros or cons of using it

Louise De Masi

Hi Sanctity, in my opinion, it's always best to use the white of the paper to represent white when you are painting with watercolour, particularly a white subject like this. Sometimes I'll use white gouache to paint on whiskers and hair on animals but I don't use it a lot. Buff Titanium is a useful colour when you want a colour that resembles cream. It's a useful colour for mixing as well but I would never use it to represent white.

Sanctity Johnson

Got it. Thank you. And I agree. I think my question was more -- when painting white roses, for example, the different colors you can use to represent shadows, and different shades of white (be it blue, pink, gray), do you usually pick transparent colors, or is it okay to use an opaque color such as buff titanium. I know some artists prefer transparent colors over opaque. How do I know when to use either of those? (Glazes = transparent, detail = opaque?) I'm not sure if I just answered my own question 😅

Sanctity Johnson

(when I'm building my palette, should I try to avoid buying as much opaque paints? Since the whole point of watercolors is the effect you can achieve with transparent paints?)

Louise De Masi

Opaque versus transparent paints is a topic I want to do a tutorial on. You don't need to avoid opaque colours although I tend to favour transparent colours over opaque colours because I love the luminosity of watercolor paintings. One thing to remember is that the transparency of a colour is dependent on how much you dilute it with water. An opaque pigment is easily diluted to make it more transparent and a transparent pigment can become quite opaque if you paint it on heavily. When mixing opaque and transparent watercolors together, the opaque colors may dominate the mixture. Transparent pigments are a good choice if you want to do some glazing.

Sanctity Johnson

Thank you, Louise! All very good points that I hadn't really taken into consideration yet. (Should I print out a light wavelength chart? Colors are so complicated!) I love that you have all these tutorials planned. I have found all of your (beginner) tips very useful. I think we all benefit from your joy of teaching ☺️ Thanks, again

Caroline

I was thinking "I wonder if Louise has more white subject tutorials" - and hey presto! I enjoyed painting the cat, and am about to embark on this one, then the daisy. I love the look of subtly bringing out white subjects.

Caroline

I was wondering if it might be possible to add an inverted line drawing? Maybe I am tracing wrong but I find I have to trace 3 times, unless I flip the paper? ATM I am printing and then tracing the line drawing on the back, then transfering to the watercolour paper.

Louise De Masi

I usually scribble graphite over the back of the line drawing and trace it straight onto the paper. You can also buy transfer paper (saral paper). It acts like the old fashioned carbon paper except it's for fine art. You tape the line drawing in place over the watercolour paper, slip the transfer paper underneath and trace over the top if the line drawing. Both methods only require tracing once.

Caroline

Will try that, thanks Louise. Tracing once is much preferable!

ann fuller

I did real well with the tutorial. I used Danial smith sap green and it’s much different and darker than yours. Next time I’ll mix my own sap green and I’ll get the nice differences like yours. It looks great though. I’m hanging it with the daisy I did. I did the daisy several times before I was happy with it. I’m definitely getting better 😀. Thank you so very much!

ann fuller

I agree with this comment 100%!!!

Louise De Masi

I'm so happy to know that you're improving Ann! That's wonderful. Thanks so much.

Bette McDowell

Oh, I can't wait! Working through the hydrangeas right now.

Heidi Bingham

Is watercolor board still available? Did you find another source, or do you have a large stash?

Becky

Picking up my supplies so they will be here once I get back from a quick trip to Indiana from Florida (going to daughter's oncology appointment... she's 2 years cancer free)! I'm really looking forward to painting gardenias, which I grow here as well. Nothing gives me more peace than hearing your gentle, confident, serene instructions. Especially when I know I'll have something I can be proud I completed at the end of the day! Your instruction is so detailed and helpful!!! Thanks..... ;-)

Louise De Masi

Hi Heidi, I've sent an email to Arches twice now to ask them if they are still making it and they haven't answered me. I have a stash here at home that I bought last year. I'm working my way through them. I put a link on the supplies list for the Daler Rowney watercolour board. I'll have to buy some and try it to see what it's like.

Louise De Masi

Thank you very much for your lovely message Becky. Reading this is a lovely way for me to start my day. That's wonderful news about your daughter. 💜

Tracy Lustick

I’ve only just begun but your tutorial is more than fantastic !

Patti Kehl

Dear Louise I am a new wannabe artist. I painted your Fairy Wren last month -which was only the fourth painting I had ever done and last night I finished your Gardenia. I have a question I hope you can answer. For the flower I used W&L professional French Ultramarine and W&L Cotman Burnt Sienna. I noticed after mixing the two colors together that very quickly they wanted to separate. Almost every time I put my brush in the watery mix I had to stir quite a bit before the paint came back to the gray color. Was this due to the fact that the Burnt Sienna was not a professional grade or ws

Patti Kehl

I'm sorry I keep hitting enter instead of the back space! LOL the Burnt Sienna was not a professional grade or was it too much water perhaps or something else I may be doing wrong. Thank you so much for your advice. Patti

Louise De Masi

Hi Patti, I don't think it's anything you're doing nor do I think it's because you were using student grade Burnt Sienna. It happens to me as well when I mix paints. I don't mix a lot of paint (other than grey) but when I do I don't let it bother me. I think the slight variations in colour actually enhance the look of your painting. In my latest video on YouTube I mix a black with 3 colours and this happened to me. You can watch it here ...... copy and paste this link into your browser ..... https://youtu.be/LmYgBR5QJgc go to the 9.19 minute mark if you don't want to watch it all. It also happens when I mix my grey like I did in the Gardenia painting. If it seperates a lot sometimes I'll give it a quick swirl of my brush before I pick it up. Otherwise I don't get concerned about it when I paint.

Debbie Smith

I am very new to watercolor painting, and I find your videos so helpful! I really appreciate your step-by-step approach, and the detail with which you explain each thing that you do. I recently used your gardenia tutorial to help me paint a magnolia blossom, and I was quite pleased with the result. I find that painting white flowers is pretty challenging! I would love to see how you would paint a magnolia which we have a lot of here in the southeastern United States where I live.

Louise De Masi

Thanks Debbie. That's so good- I'm glad. I was just looking at my Magnolia photos yesterday. 💕

Jocelyne L Williams

I am absolutely enjoying this gardenia painting. I was always uncertain how to paint white flowers and I realize now it's all about the shadows. Louise, you are exceptional as an artist and teacher and I look forward to many more happy painting hours with you!

Candace

I loved this tutorial. It was helpful learning to paint white flowers. I feel the same technique could be used elsewhere as well. Thank you so much for your lessons :) Have a great New Year!

Joyce C

Louise, This was perhaps the most enjoyable painting to date. Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about “green”. Perhaps others know this, but I did not. There is a pigment difference between WN Permanent Sap Green and DS Sap Green. I kept peering over at my WN Hookers Green and thinking that the Hookers Green was more like your color (WN Permanent Sap Green), but I’m less than a novice so I pressed on thinking Sap Green is Sap Green, permanent or whatever. Tonight I read about “green” and the writer said, WN Permanent Sap Green and Hookers Green have the same two pigments while DS Sap Green has three different pigments. So, I think my eye was correct and it wasn’t a matter of monitor or printer variation. The article also mentioned that although the WN greens had the same pigments, the ratios yield one cooler and one warmer. Am I on the right track here to use WN HOOKERS GREEN when you use WN PERMANENT SAP GREEN? Your color always looked more vibrant than my DS Sap Green.

Louise De Masi

Hi Joyce, I had a look on my Winsor & Newton colour chart. Sap Green and Hookers Green are similar. I would use Hookers Green if you want a more vibrant colour to DS Sap green.

Shilpa Shah

I just finished this one yesterday and it was SO therapeutic Louise! I really needed to get back into the swing of painting and this was just the most perfect piece to do! You're the best!

Nancy Gosnell

Can you add the A3 line drawing please. I would love to try this one in that size.