Step 1: Select your supplies.

I used Permanent Yellow Light, Permanent Red, Cobalt Blue watercolors, a Neptune Round 0, Mini-Detailer Round 12/0, Mini-Detailer Angle Shader 12/0, and Arches Watercolor Paper Cold Pressed 300 GSM.

Step 2: Using a 2B pencil, I lightly sketched the white Magnolias then wetted the background with clean water. I won’t be using masking fluid. That's why I avoided the flowers I sketched.

Step 3: Mix the Permanent Yellow Light with a bit of Cobalt Blue then glide it onto the wetted area. Add more yellow and blue and let it fuse with the first few strokes of hues.

Step 4: While the paper was starting to dry, I started adding foliage using the Permanent Yellow Light with a bit of Cobalt Blue mixture. Though this is a miniature painting, the effect we want to achieve is more on making it look soft. The Neptune round brush is perfect for all the techniques used in this process - wet on wet, foliage (tip of the brush), and light and thin strokes.

Step 5: Dab the center of each Magnolia with Permanent Yellow Light then mix it with a little bit of Permanent Red to produce an orangey hue. Dab it onto each of the bottom of the yellow center to serve as its shadow. Mix the 3 primary colors and get the lightest of the hue it’ll produce. Use it to paint the shades of the Magnolias.

Step 6: Add smaller leaves using the mini-detailer Angle Shader using Cobalt Blue and Permanent Yellow Light mixture. This time, the green it will produce is darker. Switch the said brush with the mini-detailer round 12/0 to create thin up strokes that would look like stems. I did a bit of spattering using the last color mix then I added my signature to finish it off.

Mini Painting Details:

Title: Magnolias | Size: 3 cm x 4.3 cm | 2023