Arum Lilies, 76cm x 56cm

Artist materials:

Brusho inks, bamboo pens, Bockingford 200lbs, No 12 sable substitute brush.

Palette of  colours:

Crimson, purple, violet, ultramarine, yellow ochre, lime green, turquoise, gamboge.

Step 1:

The flowers are drawn freely with a bamboo pen and crimson brushes. (I often use Quink blackwriting in for the drawing as it bleeds well).  I keep my eyes on the flowers rather than looking back at the drawing.

Step 2:

I then work across the drawing, using crimson, violet, purple, ultra for the flower heads, with lime green and gomboge for the leaves and stems.  I complete the flowers/foreground.  I work with a wet (wet with ink) brush so the flowers bed into each other.

Step 3:

When the foreground is dry, I do the background.  You may wish to do the background while the foreground is wet, in which case the foreground and background will flow together at the edges.  I painted the background with yellow ochre and let it dry thoroughly.  Then I looked at the painting against my studio wall and decided the yellow ochre background wasn't working.  So I painted the background again, this time withturquoise, which I found much more satisfying.  When painting backgrounds, use a light touch and lay on inks with the flat of the brush rather than the tip.  Work in circular light motions to cover large areas evenly.

Step 4:

Now I draw back into the painting with writing ink to redefine those lines that have been lost. The colours are now looking a little dull; I often find that some areas need two applications of ink. The leaves are given added vibrancy by a second layer of turquoise, lemon yellow and ultramarine.

Stargazer Lilies, 76cm x 56cm

Artists materials:

Brusho inks, bamboo pens, Bockingford 200lbs, No 12 sable substitute brush.

Palette of colours:

Crimson (diluted to pink), purple, lime green, lemon, gamboge, moss green, olive green.

Step 1:

I draw the flowers as before using crimson to create the lines with a bamboo pen.  I then start painting the large lily flower head by running crimson ink down the centre of the petal, then cleaning my brush.  I use clean water on the brush, heavily loaded, to draw the crimson ink from the centre out to the edge.  The backgound is a mixture of moss green, lime green and lemon, much diluted. 

Step 2:

I begin painting the anemone heads in ultramarine blue, gamboge yellow, vermillion and purple, laying in the centres with black writing ink. The stalks and leaves are painted in leaf green. This hand-made paper cockles quite drastically but will dry down flat. Meanwhile, the cockling results in some interesting pooling effects with the ink. The vase is painted in ultramarine blue. Normally I apply a background colour at this stage but do not feel it is required with paper this colour.

Orchid, 56cm x 76cm

Artist materials:

Brusho inks, bamboo pens, Bockingford 200lbs, No 12 sable substitute brush.

Palette of colours:

Yellow, gamboge, crimson, lime green, purple, ultramarine and olive green.

Step 1: Drawing the objects

I start wherever my eye falls, in this case one of the central flowers.  I use crimson brush ink. I 'absorb' the orchid (by opening my mind and eyes to it and concentrating, without analyzing) before I pick up my pen.  Then holding the pen, my eyes folowing the edges of the flower while my hand makes the lines.  I glance at the work only to check that I set down my pen inroughly the next place, but my hand doesn't move until my eyes are back on the object.

 Step 2: Adding colour

While the ink from the drawing is still very wet I begin to add colour. I thoroughly load the brush with a light colour (gamboge).  The wet ink from the drawn crimson line should start to bleed into the light colour, and will produce a soft edge.  Before going into the flower again, let the painting dry.
   

Step 3: Painting the foreground

When the petal area is dry, I go into the centre with undiluted purple and crimson ink.  I may go into the centre several times to achieve the density of colour that I want - each time the inks need to dry, before more ink is applied.  The stem leaves and pot are worked on while the flowers are drying

Step 4: The background

There is a lot of background in this painting and  I washed some areas with a more diluted colour (ultramarine) to create a more varied background.   I also think having the pot and the background so close in colour might be interesting.                   

Step 5: Finishing the painting

I decide the background is too varied (or 'active') for the foreground image, so I paint another layer of aquamarine over the entire background, which creates a more even, quieter effect.  The pot is now too close in colour to the background - too 'lost', so I paint the pot again, this time using crimson ink.