Flower Painting

Flower paintings start with a trip out to a beautiful garden and always involve tea and cake in the cafe! - some of my favourites are Lea Gardens in Matlock, Chatsworth garden, Biddulph Grange and Arley Hall in Cheshire. 

I always take hundreds of photos which I crop and work from later and I make watercolour sketches in situ. Sometimes I set up my easel and paint all day! Working on canvas with acrylic I start by applying some background colour, I then loosely add areas of shadow. 

The way I work is a process of building up layers which you can see in the step by step photos below or click on the link to watch a video on YouTube. 

In the winter months my flower paintings take the form of a still life, which I set up with some tulips or daffodils in a favourite jug.