Peerless Coloring, Hidden Flowers & Challenges Galore

Today I'm going to share a little about the Peerless Watercolors (to see the 15 colors included, click here!). I am certainly no expert, but I am very happy with the results I'm getting and love how easy they are to use. I will try to provide step by step samples on how to shade of the flowers in my new set (and over time, you'll probably see each one in every color here!) there are better people to learn from than I, and the coloring can be more realistic or painterly depending on the effect you want to achieve, but because of the layering of some of the petals, regardless of where the light source is, you will find that some places shadows are consistently needed between each sample you see, from designer to designer.

Above you can see two roses I stamped onto watercolor paper. Watercolor paper gives such a different look, but I have also been thrilled with how these blend on plain white CS. The top one is complete, using "Japonica Red"(becomes more pink as it fades). The bottom one I have gone over with just one drop of the concentrated pigment from the the "Royal Crimson"sheet (becomes more orange as it fades), by "licking" my pen to the corner to pick up the color and spreading it all across the rose for my lightest shade. (I'm using an Aquapainter here, but I have the Niji waterbrush on order and I can't wait to try it out!) TIP: To make a rose that is less full blown than my illustration, omit the outer 4 petals. Now you can make a garden of roses in various states of blossoming with the one image! :) Now I'm going back in with the same color to darken a few areas (petals that are further back, the undersides, and places where meet, you can also blend the two different reds in the book) Below is the same photograph with a few lines I added and numbers to show what I'm doing. Area "1" is a deep fold, you can also see there are some lines in my image to add a shadow to the illustrations, concentrate your color to these areas. The white lines show when I'm adding a shadow under a petal, I just follow the line (in "3", see how it follows the curves?) , and then blend. "4" shows a deep crevice between the petals: go over that line where they meet, then pull color out toward the edge of each petal. As you come to the edge, have the shape of the darker area match the outer edge, like "2". The lines you see at the tips of each of the petals are the tiny separations you get in the petal, as the "veins" in the flowers move outward. Pull your color in strokes towards each of these lines (I didn't number that sorry but see the middle part of the flower on the bottom?(labeled "4" above it)


Here is my completed card after I cut out each rose, and mounted on dimensionals. I made this for Beate's Weekend Sketch WSC60, SCS Limited Supply Challenge LSC 188 (no ribbon or embellishments), and Ways to Use it Challenge WT186 (quotes, this one from Say it With Flowers) The Cameo Coral and Sage Shadow layers are Cuttlebugged with the Leafy Branch folder. Quote and base are Shimmery White. I am thrilled with how well the two roses and layout go with with saying.

One last thing to share today about these colors, the pigments side looks much darker than it is, the backside shows a more true color for your reference, I'm folding it back here to show the "Royal Crimson"(that looks so dark in my first pic). I really like the description they give you, what types of things to use It for, and other colors in the book you can blend it with to achieve new colors. There is also a gray in the back that can be added to any of the colors to deepen them or create perfect shadows, which I will show another day. Again, I can't stress how deep and vibrant these colors are when you first pick them up on your brush (which gives you a HUGE range of colors as you dilute it!), so you'll want to have a plastic surface to mix or dab off the color or a piece of scratch paper to brush it off when you need to tone it down (or if you have watercolor paper just keep pulling the area out until it fades to the desired shade) At only 12.95, peerless watercolors are a must have!! (IMHO)

In the comments section, please let me know which flowers you would like to see shaded, in which colors, or what questions you have on coloring or tips you'd like to add from your experience, I'd love to hear! I've only had lessons in public school, eons ago, but now I would really like to take a watercoloring classes to take my technique to the next level. Rare advice from my DH, who went to architecture school (and almost never has feedback on my cards): the beauty of watercoloring is not exact (I'm paraphrasing!) and you don't have to stay in the lines or color in every portion of your drawing. I'll be back sharing my attempts at this more "painterly" approach as well... have a great weekend!!!