Learn to Paint Realistic Watercolor Viola Flowers

Have you ever wanted to paint detailed, realistic botanical watercolors, but don't know where to start? In this class I take you step by step through my process for painting viola flowers which are some of the easiest flowers to paint, even for beginners. 

Before we start painting we take a quick visit to my garden. I show you where I get most of the inspiration for my art and why violas appear in so many of my paintings. I demonstrate how to study the anatomy of a plant and how to create simple sketches of what you see. This sort of study is great practice for preparing to paint. I also talk about the properties of watercolor and how to get them to work for you when doing botanical illustrations. 

Another important part of preparing to paint is mixing your colors. This is one of my favorite parts! I show you my technique for mixing a selection of colors with which to paint multiple viola variations. These flowers come in so many color combinations and it's fun to play and experiment.

Finally I demonstrate painting three different viola flowers. In the last demonstration (divided into two segments) I share how to make your painting look more finished by adding leaves and a second stem with a flower bud.

Then you're on your own to create your viola paintings. Once you're comfortable with them, the skills you learn in this class can be used to create more complicated compositions.