Chase Away Winter Blahs With Florals

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If this frigid winter has you housebound with little to look at besides gray skies and white landscapes, get out your paints and spend some time with your brightest, most vivid colors.

Paint a revitalizing and vibrant floral that will color your world with visions of spring and sun.

You may not have fresh flowers to stage as your subject, but you can scour the internet or your morgue for brilliant blooms.

If you need a little help with the intricacies of flower painting, there are tons of books with instructions, tips and references to get you painting a touch of summer right in your studio.

Here’s a few to get you started.

Watercolour Flowers

Janet Whittle’s Watercolour Flowers: An Inspirational Step-By-Step Guide to Colour and Techniques ISBN-10: 1844486680

Ms. Whittle takes the sometimes mundane subject of floral still life and gives it a jolt with vibrant, impressionistic backgrounds that are fun and easy to create. With her detailed explanations and photos, you’ll learn how to paint a number of flowers without being bogged down with excruciating detail.

This lively and informative book gives you all the basics if you’re a beginner, and advanced painters will enjoy her spontaneous and natural approach to creating beautiful, instinctive florals.

Watercolor Flower Artist’s Bible

The Watercolor Flower Artist’s Bible: An Essential Reference for the Practicing Artist by Claire Waite Brown ISBN-10: 078582281X

This small, spiral bound book starts with materials and techniques for the beginner and is followed by instructions on drawing flowers based on their basic shapes or contours. The basic contours include groupings like bell, trumpet, bearded, spike, star and pompoms.

The remainder of the book looks at over 100 flowers with succinct demonstrations in three or four steps. It’s perfect for anyone who wants a small, quick reference guide with basic techniques.

The flowers are broken into color groupings, so if you’re in the mood for pink, you can go right to that section to find the perfect pink posy. The Watercolor Flower Artist’s Bible also takes a look at berries and leaves to complement the blooms.

Radiant Oils: Glazing Techniques

Radiant Oils: Glazing Techniques for Fruit and Flower Paintings That Glow by Arleta Pech ASIN: B00563M2VQ

Ms. Pech has a number of books under her belt and this one is perfect for the artist wishing to learn the art of glazing. Each step is clearly explained, from choosing color combinations, basic composition and the sequencing of layers to use.

The book’s chapters include Materials and Equipment, Intro To Transparent Glazing, Background Techniques, The Foundation Of Transparent Glazing, Four Demonstrations and Glazing Techniques In Action.

Not only does she include basics like prepping your support and selecting colors, but goes on to initiate the novice in the artful composition of shadow and light. This book also contains a chapter dedicated to creating complementary backgrounds for fluidity in composition.

With five full-length demonstrations and five studies focusing on glazing for texture, this book is a comprehensive guide to creating realistic floral still life in oils.

The Acrylic Flower Painter’s A-Z

The Acrylic Flower Painter’s A-Z: An Illustrated Directory of Techniques for Painting 40 Popular Flowers by Lexi Sundell ISBN-10: 1844482944

Covering a wide range of blooms, this directory of flowers includes large, lush photos and close-ups of flower paintings and techniques for achieving your own spectacular acrylic florals.

Although this book includes a chapter on materials, methods and making pictures, it is not a beginner’s step-by-step how to. It assumes that the reader has some experience using paint and brush and examines the techniques specific to various flowers. If you’re an acrylic painter who wants to expand your repertoire to flowers, this is a great guide for many of the most popular flowers in art today.

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