Paint Realistic Watercolor and Botanicals - TOADSTOOLS

In this lecture we take a quick look at the nature and characteristics of our subject. Observation is the first step towards creating a sound representation of any subject, so here we familiarise ourself a little more on the fly agaric in preparation for the studio

Some interesting extra things to know about the history of our subject...!

Some subjects in botanical art come with challenges of their own, sap, bugs, thorns and toxicity to name a few! I know myself, I was set for a general anaesthetic after a fight with a cactus left me needing microsurgery to remove the thorns, and as much as we dont think of botanical illustration as an extreme sport, it really can be at times, and so in the case of the Fly Agaric we find ourselves dealing with toxicity, its important that we give some of these things adequate consideration for our wellbeing and best outcome.

The process of collecting our reference is such a critical part of the painting experience. What we take from the field carries over to the studio and into our work, making this such an important element in  our work. This lecture takes a closer look at reference hunting and collecting for the Fly Agaric to connect you to the subject in a deeper way, even though from afar.

This is the Drawing component of this tutorial. Whilst I dont teach drawing specifically, I like to cover this aspect of the work as a point of interest, offering you some simple helpful tips and an insight to the drawing process should you wish to push yourself a little further into the depths and challenge of the craft. Drawing is such a critical component of our work, not just as a physical practice, but on so many levels. Spending time drawing will help you so much when it comes to painting time. Indeed, working with graphite has a certain calming peace to it in its own right, for me it is perhaps my most personal luxury practice in my work, so I take a look at the DRAWING process in this course as an extra stop for you to consider and explore.

Masking fluid can be all kinds of trouble, but it can also save you a lot of trouble too, when its used correctly. So often its not... alas. In this course I wanted to revisit the use of masking fluid in a little more depth to help you get the best out of this extremely useful medium.

Understanding our 'scope' can be a big key to unlocking your anxiety, so in this lecture were visiting this food for thought to try and bring some more important, freedom and perspective to your mindset and you work

Understanding our Scope for colour helps us understand our room to move better, calms our nerves and helps us navigate through the challenges of colour as we come into the painting process

Lets look at the topic of SIZE to understand our scope in this area better

In this lecture we continue to consider our Scope to understand the detailing of the spots better

Textures, the delicious magic of any subject. Lets take a closer look at our scope for this area of focus

This lecture takes a quick overview of our first subject, an emerging Fly Agaric toadstool. Getting familiar with our subjects helps you improve your painting on every level, so here we have a little clarity, direction, information and food for thought as we begin the first illustration in this Toadstool series. This lecture looks at this specific painting challenge to learn more about our subject and game plan as we move into the painting process. The materials list for this illustration is also attached here for your reference

This lecture looks at the process of transferring our image to our watercolour paper or board cleanly, precisely and simply. My approach is straightforward, practical and refined to make this step as easy and effective for you as possible.

In this lecture we look at applying masking fluid to toadstool 1 to preserve the white of our spots

This lecture kicks off the process of painting the cap of this beautiful Fly Agaric toadstool. We create a base or 'road map' from which we will continue to build upon towards the final outcome. In this, the first stage we work in WASH to create our LIGHTS

This lecture looks at shifting into glazing techniques using rich red to develop the intensity, tone and form of our toadstool cap into our mid tones. Its a great practice for the technique, protected by the safeguard of our masking fluid.

Shifting again, we change our technique to dry brushing to address our DARKS on the toadstool cap, leaving just our spots to complete in this element.

Working our way through the stalk of Toadstool 1, we break down the process of painting this element from start to completion, ready for the soil detailing to be added next.

Refining our spots is a fiddly but fun business. This lecture walks you through the process, keeping things as simple and effective as possible for a great result

To complete this Fly Agaric Toadstool illustration, we wrap it up with the rendering of the soil detail, a fun little exercise in tone and texture

Familiarising yourself with your subject well is so important. Weve looked at the Fly Agaric subject as a whole, but now its time to look at our specific toadstool subject within this far more closely. The more we know about our subject, the better we start to be able to express it. This lecture looks at this specific painting challenge to learn more about our subject and game plan as we move into the painting process. The materials list for this illustration is also attached here for your reference

This lecture looks at the process of transferring our image to our watercolour paper or board cleanly, precisely and simply. My approach is straightforward, practical and refined to make this step as easy and effective for you as possible.

In this lecture we look at applying masking fluid to toadstool 2 to preserve the white of our spots

This lecture offers a little extra food for thought as we approach the cap of this Toadstool illustration... We look a little more closely at the colour selection for this element with some deeper conversation to consider on this front.

The cap of Toadstool Two is another spectacular red example of our subject. Our palette shifts to a new balance of reds, exploring a line of colour that is far more orange than we had in Toadstool ONE. This cap is far more complex to render than the first, making this a perfect next step exercise for us to explore in this series. Now we are managing larger areas of wash, far more complex colour and a new level of texture as well. This element brings an ideal opportunity to learn more about timing and balances, so critical to understand with watercolour, and finally, we look at how to achieve a successful outcome, working with a combination of colour that can be incompatible if used incorrectly. Its a glorious subject, such fun to play with and an all round excellent watercolour practice for everyone. Lecture 1 looks at the first layer of wash

Shifting into our mid tones, we begin to create form with our tone for this toadstool cap element. This lecture walks you through the mid stage of development working in glazing through to the early stages of dry brushing in preparation for our darks

To complete the red element of our Toadstool Cap we shift into dry brushing and develop our darks to completion.

This lecture addresses the rendering of the toadstool stem element. Working in the lightest end of the tonal scale, its a perfect exercise in white subjects, creating textures and delicate tone.

Removing the masking fluid, we revisit the white spots of our toadstool cap to complete this element

The soil is the last stop for us in rendering this toadstool illustration, the strength of the soil balancing out the intensity of the red cap above nicely for a close. This lecture walks you through the process, an exercise focussed on working in a narrow tonal range within the darks and creating texture texture. 

This lecture takes a quick overview of our focal subject, a proud Fly Agaric toadstool standing tall, exposing the gilled undersides of the cap for a new perspective on the subject. Getting familiar with our subjects helps you improve your painting on every level, so here we have a little clarity, direction, information and food for thought as we begin our new Toadstool illustration, the third in this series. This lecture looks at this specific painting challenge to learn more about our subject and game plan as we move into the painting process. The materials list for this illustration is also attached here for your reference

This lecture looks at the process of transferring our image to our watercolour paper or board cleanly, precisely and simply. My approach is straightforward, practical and refined to make this step as easy and effective for you as possible.

In this lecture we look at applying masking fluid to toadstool 3 to preserve the white of our spots

A small element in this toadstool example is the cap. With just the outer fringes in view, our palette is in based in yellow and orange, another subtle variation on the exploration of this topic. This lecture walks you through its development from start to completion in readiness for the gilled underside as a next stop

Looking at the first layer of our toadstool cap underside, we work in wash to create a textural base for this element to build on. We break this element up into manageable sections and steps, our focus very much being on texture and timing. Its a very important exercise to understanding the watercolour medium

Transitioning from wash to glazing, we continue to develop the underside of our toadstool cap into the mid tones. Working in smaller areas and layers, we enrich our painting, creating form, texture and tone in readiness for our darks

This lecture walks you through the Dry Brushing process of the gilled undersides, the final steps to complete this section. Here we deal with darks, detail and the finishing touches of the toadstool underside

Refining our white spots is a simple process in this illustration, but an important one to get right. This lecture walks you through the process from the removal of the masking fluid to the final rendering of this detail.

Moving on to the stalk of our toadstool, we work in the lightest tones to create a delicate, textured stem for our subject. This lecture takes you through the process from colour to technique, step by step to completion

Our last stop on this toadstool journey is to render the soil at the base of the stem. Its all about rich colour, working in our dark tones and creating texture to complete this element, and this illustration.