watercolour washes

Winter Jasmine – watercolour sketch #66

January 26, 2018 by Helen Parry

Winter Jasmine – watercolour (Jasminum nudiflorum)

Winter Jasmine is a very reliable plant. Every year it grows up the sandstone wall of the garden store. It doesn’t need any encouragement, it just carries on growing and flowering, regardless of the cold weather. It is a gorgeous bit of bright yellow colour, through the winter months. There is one thing though, unlike other Jasmines, it lacks a scent.

Winter Jasmine watercolour sketch by Helen Parry — Winter Jasmine watercolour by Helen Parry

Painting Winter Jasmine

I used one paintbrush to paint the Winter Jasmine. First I applied a pale yellow wash to the yellow star flowers. I also painted the emerging buds with the yellow wash. While the wash dried I painted the first green wash of the stems. I used a pale yellow/ green mix. I had noticed the tiny green leaves around the buds seemed more yellow in tone than the stems.

I painted another layer of yellow wash on the Winter Jasmine petals. Next I used a pink watercolour mix to paint areas of the buds. I observed the yellow buds start out pink and green and eventually the pink becomes more a yellow bud.

Then I added a stronger yellow wash to areas of the petals and to the central part of the flower. This gave the petals definition and shape. Next I painted the stems with the yellow/ green mix. Then I made the green watercolour mix into a blue/ green hue. I applied this blue/ green tone to the stems.

Finally I used the blue/ green mix to paint a stronger line on the edge of the stems. Then last of all I used a black mix, to mix into the yellow palette, to create a darker tone of yellow. I used this darker wash to paint the edges of the yellow star shaped petals.

Spring into Autumn as Summer falls

October 17, 2016 by Helen Parry

The season is changing as we spring into Autumn and Summer falls into a distant memory and our days feel shorter.

Can we really be saying goodbye to Summer already? It seems only a few weeks ago, that I was eagerly anticipating the white blossoms sprouting from the hedgerows. Painting the blackbirds flitting about, their beaks crammed full of worms. It appears nature has moved quicker than me.

Helen-Parry-Watercolour-Artist-Female-Blackbird-1-of-1.jpg — Female Blackbird watercolour by Helen Parry

“Over the Summer months I have sauntered over fields, searching for those elusive stunning viewpoints, painting them, from the first rays of sunlight, through morning mist, under storm breaking clouds, to the evening long shadows, spreading as the fiery sun set”

Summer Plein Air Watercolours

It has been an interesting Summer Sketch outdoor exploration and I have drawn and painted in various sketch books and scribbled plenty of notes. During the summer months I’ve been out and about in the countryside quickly painting as much as possible . Yet I still feel I’m on the outer edge of observing and painting nature.

As an artist I am always attempting to balance my time between painting large, detailed, meticulous watercolours and plein air watercolour washes, that instantly capture an overall loose impression. I am surrounded by a marvellous array of interesting subjects and it can be difficult trying to paint them all. I am well aware there are only so many summers within a lifetime and sadly I watch as another one disappears, before I can fully paint my understanding of nature in Summer.

Fine Art Prints

I love standing and observing and being totally immersed with my paint and brush, painting what has caught my eye. I am trying to make sense of it all and interpret and share what I see. It is interesting to see how the light can glare through the clouds and across the landscape. The sunlight can create stark shapes, vibrant colours or deep shadows.

I hope you enjoy these few plein air watercolours I painted this Summer. I have painted quickly, firstly to capture my immediate impression and secondly to make the most of the daylight and a long walk. Therefore if you see me wandering about, I’ll probably be balancing an open sketchbook as I walk (waiting for a watercolour wash to dry, so I can begin another one).

Fine Art Prints

Autumn – capturing the vibrant warm tones before they disappear

I am looking forward to painting the Autumn colours, as weather experts predict a good Autumn display this year. So I am really hoping to use lots of yellow, orange and red watercolour pigments. My rucksack is packed and I have my paint brushes ready, because you never know how long the Autumn colours will last.

Chestnut Brown Iris – Watercolour Sketch #46

October 26, 2015 by Helen Parry

Chestnut Brown Iris (bearded Kent Pride ) – watercolour layers of yellow, orange and red tones

This watercolour of a chestnut brown Iris was a pleasure to paint, as a watercolour sketch. Describing it as a chestnut brown Iris is rather apt, as there are a multitude of yellow, orange and red tones to the Iris petals. It is a stunningly beautiful Iris, known as Kent Pride.

watercolour painting of chestnut brown iris flower in studio — Chestnut Brown Iris watercolour sketch by Helen Parry in studio

Chestnut Brown Iris watercolour process

Several layers of watercolour washes have been applied to this chestnut brown Iris, to show the varying tones of reds and oranges. Ultimately transforming the edges of the Iris falls, to a chestnut brown. The first layers were broad washes of yellow, on the style crest and the three standards. I’ve added a light red pigment of watercolour to the yellow washes, to create an orange tone. While these layers dried I painted the first light yellow washes to the falls and the stem. Then I applied darker red brushstrokes to the Chestnut Brown Iris standards, to add definition to these petals. There are lots of small brushstrokes to create movement and flow around the style crest.

Next I painted a deeper yellow pigment wash to the Iris falls, using small brushstrokes, to create lines within the petals and I also painted the first layers of the Iris beards. I mixed a green wash for the Iris stem and the bud of the other Iris, yet to emerge. I then painted a drier red watercolour mix to the Iris standards again. Then I also applied this drier mix to the outer edges of the Iris falls, and once the wash had dried I applied it again using a dappled effect, to create the dotted markings on the falls.

Generally I kept adding watercolour paint and constantly worked around the different areas of the Chestnut Brown Iris. In addition I added a brown/red mix to the Iris falls and the Iris bud. Finally a layer of deep yellow watercolour mix, was applied to the Iris beards.

This chestnut brown Iris, known as Kent Pride, is stunning in the flesh and I hope I’ve conveyed its depths of colours.

Snowdrops Galanthus – Watercolour Sketch #05

May 3, 2015 by Helen Parry

Snowdrops Galanthus – sprouting in the lanes

Snowdrops Galanthus are the first plant to push through the soil after winter. It’s when the garden starts to wake up. We have quite a few Snowdrops sprouting around the trees, but they had all finished flowering when I did this watercolour sketch. So I painted these snowdrops from down the lane, while balancing my sketchbook on my knee. It was too muddy for sitting.

watercolour painting of snowdrops galanthus in studio

I used just one watercolour brush to paint and I took 3 palettes with me from the studio. It was a short walk down the lane, so it wasn’t too mush hassle to carry my studio palettes, which I prefer to use. It wasn’t easy balancing the sketchpad and reaching down to the palettes in the verge. It’s a muddy lane with no traffic, except tractors, pheasants, rabbits and partridges. Though not all at the same time.

Snowdrops Galanthus watercolour

Firstly I pencilled an outline of the clump of Snowdrops. I tired to capture the flow of the petals, reminding me of helicopter blades, swirling. A pale yellow green was the first watercolour mix I created. Then I mixed a loose wash of a darker green tone. Adding more layers of the darker green as the previous layer dried. My third palette started as a grey/blue mix, to highlight the shadow on the white petals. As you may already know I don’t use white paint, so I paint everything but the white areas.

Once I’d finished the Snowdrop Galanthus watercolour sketch, I took it back to the studio, for photographing. I like to share the palette mixes I created as well. I mix all my colours from primary colours of red, yellow and blue.