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by Kaitlyn Bonack

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How to Compose a Loose Floral Piece

We love watching Jenna Rainey create beautiful flowers and are excited everytime we see her tag us on Instagram.  Her work inspires and educates watercolor painters around the globe and we are excited to share this tutorial with you.

Jenna is often asked how she creates full, loose floral pieces when she paints. She shared a tutorial video showcasing her techniques and offers tips along the way, including two key areas involved in the creation of an intricate work of art.

“Every time I sit down to paint a piece like this, I think about two things first: color palette and shapes. This particular palette involves every color of the rainbow: ROYGBIV.

Always keep an eye out for where your color is landing. Are there clusters of the same color in one spot? Do you always have contrasting colors (example: purple and yellow) sitting next to each other? You want to create bounce for your eyes, so make sure to switch it up and place these elements around your piece in a zig-zag fashion! This way, your eyes won’t be directed in a straight line (if you have a bunch of yellows stacked on each other to form a line, etc), or be held in one specific area for too long.

The next important thing to think about is breaking down your floral shapes. For most of my loose floral pieces, I really just paint Circle shapes (roses), cone shapes (peonies or other fluffy flowers), straight and curves lines for stems and branches and compound strokes for leaves! Make sure your floral shapes follow their basic shapes and you’re gooooood. Roses are like painting a swirl that unravels into a circle shape, while peonies have teardrop shape flowers that point in towards each other to make a cone! Do this and remember that PRACTICE is key! It will help you unlock those mysteries about composition, color theory, etc. more than researching can…you just gotta do it!”

Watch her video tutorial here.

 

One of the most common questions I get asked is how I compose a full, loose floral piece – so! I decided to dedicate an entire #jrtutorial / #tuesdaytutorial to composing a loose floral piece! Every time I sit down to paint a piece like this, I think about two things first: color palette and shapes. This particular palette involves every color of the rainbow: ROYGBIV. Always keep an eye out for where your color is landing. Are there clusters of the same color in one spot? Do you always have contrasting colors (example: purple and yellow) sitting next to each other? You want to create bounce for your eyes, so make sure to switch it up and place these elements around your piece in a zig zag fashion! This way, your eyes won’t be directed in a straight line (if you have a bunch of yellows stacked on each other to form a line, etc), or be held in one specific area for too long. The next important thing to think about is breaking down your floral shapes. For most of my loose flora pieces, I really just paint Circle shapes (roses), cone shapes (peonies or other fluffy flowers), straight and curves lines for stems and branches and compound strokes for leaves! Make sure your floral shapes follow their basic shapes and you’re gooooood. Roses are like painting a swirl that unravels into a circle shape, while peonies have teardrop shape flowers that point in towards each other to make a cone! Do this and remember that PRACTICE is key! It will help you unlock those mysteries about composition, color theory, etc. more than researching can…you just gotta do it! Post your practice of this piece under #jrtutorial so I can see and repost in my stories! Happy painting!! #jennarainey #watercolor #watercolour #art #artwork #paint #painting #sketch #goodmorningart #art_daily #watercolorflorals #floralwatercolor #instagood #instadaily #dailyart #leafwatercolor #top_watercolor #artistic_nation #arts_promoter #wewholeart #buzzfeedart #artistic

A post shared by Jenna Rainey (@jennarainey) on May 8, 2018 at 1:29pm PDT

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