start painting daylilies with a step by step watercolor tutorial

Reference Photo

First we need something to paint.

Paint from either some live flowers or a good photo.

Since it was January when this painting was done, there we no live flowers. This excellent photo was like a ready-made composition.

Second you need brushes and something to paint on. My favorite watercolor support is Aquabord. This painting is a 9"x12", but you can make it any size you wish. I used a couple of round watercolor brushes, plus a script liner.

About watercolor supplies

This daylily painting is done with tube watercolor paints, pan watercolors will work just fine.

The color scheme is compliment plus 1/2 left.

• Permanent Rose,
• a primary yellow, like Winsor Yellow
• Viridian Green
• Quinacridone Violet was added for the shadows.

Start painting with Permanent Rose.

Just beware that erasing on the watercolor surface, especially on paper may damage the surface.

The damaged surface will take the paint differently.

Prewet a petal and start painting in the Permanent Rose.

If you want a warmer pink, mix the rose with some yellow to warm up the color.

Start painting on the end of the petal you want darker. Pull the paint toward the lighter area of the petal.

Leave the center of the flowers unpainted.

Use your artistic sense. Do whatever is pleasing to you.

While painting daylilies or any other subject, there is no absolute right or wrong way to do things.

Paint the yellow centers.

Let the pink dry before you paint the yellow centers.

Prewet the centers and a little way over the pink.

• Paint the yellow from the center out.

Feather the edge of the yellow out over the wet area on top of the pink. This allows the yellow to softly merge into the pink.

Let the yellow dry.

You may want to use a hair dryer to speed up the dry time.

Every artist has their own methods and you will develop your skills according to your own taste.

Just enjoy painting. That's what it's all about!

Paint the shadow areas.

Mix a dark from your complimentary colors, Permanent Rose and Viridian Green.

More about mixing paint colors

• Check out the reference photo to see the dark areas in the centers.
  

Paint the darks from the center out, the same way you did with the yellow.

Identify the other shadow areas. I used Quinacridone Violet for the shadows.

Sometimes it was mixed with yellow to warm the color. Or sometimes mixed with the rose, so it's not so dark.

When you are painting daylilies or anything else, it's a good idea to vary your colors.

Don't have the same exact color over a large area. Give the viewer's eye more interesting things to look at.

Notice the mistake

Glaze over the pink areas you want to intensify.

While making the dark area of pink across the top petal, it turned out to be a straight line.

• It cut off the center part of the yellow.
• The yellow should arch up in the center and down on the sides.

So how was it fixed?

After the paint was dry, some of the yellow paint was stroked off on the sides of the petal with a flat, damp brush.

After two or three strokes, rinse the paint out of the brush. Blot the excess water out of the brush before stroking again.

Let the area dry before painting on it again.

Paint all the remaining petals.

Continue painting the petals.

Notice now the yellow is going higher up on the center of the petal.

Indicate some shadow areas on the edges of some of the ruffled petals.

If you do it only on the top daylily, it will keep the viewer's eye higher up in the painting.

The dark purple shadows attracted too much attention away from the rest of the flowers.

So I lifted some of the shadow areas with a damp brush.

Finish painting the remaining petals.

The underpainting is ready for the final painting with details.