In honor of Memorial Day… we’ll learn how to paint watercolor poppies.
The poppy flower is a symbol of remembrance. The poem below was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae in 1915 when he noticed poppies growing across the battlefields of World War I.
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Materials Used:
- Paint: http://amzn.to/2vgmzG5 and http://amzn.to/2vgjtlc
- Brush(es): Grumbacher round size 00 (http://amzn.to/2vyPMyg), Princeton Heritage Round size 4 (https://amzn.to/2RPCfKn)
- Paper: http://amzn.to/2vzf13P
- Kneaded Eraser: https://amzn.to/2L8CuN9
- All of my favorite supplies here
Watercolor Poppies
Step 1: Prep your workspace
I like to use washi tape to keep my paper in place. Sometimes I use tape for other paintings that require a lot of water to keep the paper from warping and buckling. For this painting, I also used washi tape so that the paper would stay within frame while filming 😉
Step 2: Sketch lightly
Sketching lightly is key! Once you paint over pencil lines, it’s difficult to erase. You can find lots of royalty-free images like this one I found on pixabay.com.
After you sketch, if you want to remove even more of the pencil lines, you can use a kneaded eraser. I like to use this rather than a regular eraser, because it only picks up the graphite of the pencil and doesn’t change the paper’s quality.
Step 3: First washes of light orange and red
Start by painting light washes in sections so that your paints don’t bleed into one another. Once the first petals are dry, then paint the petals that are adjacent. I used my round size 4 brush.
Step 4: Second layer
Once all of your first layers are dry, paint a second layer with a more saturated color.
Step 5: Smaller details
Use a smaller brush for the details like the veins on the petals. This is what makes the poppy really stand out!
Step 6: Poppy center and stem
Keep using the smaller brush for the poppy’s center and the stems.
And ta-da!
Thanks so much for painting with me! I’d love to see your watercolor poppies!
If you use this tutorial, please tag me on social media @AudreyRaDesign and use the hashtag #PaintWithAudrey.