art secret 7 - painting pussywillows

These photos are a wonderful example of the elegance of the branches...

study how they curve and dance through the air and

look at all the different colors in the stems, buds and flowers.

Do you want to sketch out your drawing or just start painting? I used burnt sienna, sap green, dioxine violet and burnt umber in my stems and paint wet on dry.

Either way start with the branches and get your light and dark areas painted in.

Now you are ready to add the flowers. I always suggest that you add the jackets to the branch first and then paint in the flowers. And here is the Art Secret! Before you paint, wet the area where you want to add a flower starting near the stem and then add a drop of-you guessed it-Rose Dore and let the water do the work for you. While it's wet add your choice of another color to the flower and let the water pull the color over the rose dore and mix. The next Art Secret for the flower is to make sure that the color does not go to the edge, that way you  create a light and fluffy look around the flower. Now that you know, go have fun.