Watercolour Poppy Composition with Multiple Blooms

A project from our live show CATCH UP with Toni for a WATERCOLOUR PAINTING CLASS in the HTCN studio broadcast 13 Oct 21 · 11/13/2021 · watch it from 53:45

Create a complete poppy painting featuring three poppy heads at different angles, buds, stems and foliage. This masterpiece demonstrates how to compose multiple flowers together with layered detail and natural movement.

You will need

Carta - Traditional Watercolour Paper - A5 - WCPA501SEE IT 943382 TV - 100268 - HTCN - Stamps By Me Standard Paintbrush Set - 061121ASEE IT

DOWNLOAD THIS GUIDE (PDF)

Step by step

1. Paint a small heart shape on the left side of your card using red watercolour. ▶ watch 57:45
2. Paint a second heart inside the first, then fill the base with red, leaving white spaces. ▶ watch 58:00
3. Use a clean, wet brush to add water around the back heart to create a soft, diluted effect. ▶ watch 58:30
4. Paint a medium-sized poppy in the centre using the same heart-within-heart technique, making it larger than the first. ▶ watch 59:00
5. Add a third connecting heart shape to the main poppy to create multiple overlapping petals. ▶ watch 1:00:00
6. Splash clean water around all the poppies to soften edges and create a natural, organic appearance. ▶ watch 1:01:00
7. Mix a light green and paint thin, slightly trembling stems connecting from the centre of each flower downwards. ▶ watch 1:02:00
8. Paint small oval buds at the ends of some stems using the same green. ▶ watch 1:03:00
9. Add darker green details to the buds and stems to create shadow and definition. ▶ watch 1:04:00
10. Paint fine grass strokes at the base using both light and dark green, varying the direction and length. ▶ watch 1:05:00
11. Return to the poppy heads and add darker red and black details to enhance dimension and separate petals. ▶ watch 1:06:00
12. Use a fine black liner pen to add stamens, hairs and additional detail to the poppy centres and buds. ▶ watch 1:07:00
13. Sign your finished artwork with your name to complete the piece. ▶ watch 1:08:00

Tips from the show

• Poppy stems are never straight; paint them with a slight tremor as if your hand has a gentle shake.
• Always start stems from the centre of the flower and connect them to the base.
• If you add a colour you don't like, dry your brush completely and place it back on the artwork to lift the colour back out using the dry brush technique.

More from this show

• Watercolour Poppy Painting Practice
• Watercolour Poppy Bud

Written up from the show itself. See every guide from our shows · free how-to guides · watch live on My Telly