How to paint a Pink Peony - Watercolour tutorial

[@gee355Art]

You might also be interested in how to paint the centre of a Peony, using watercolour: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoHadX-HoJyVhdE

[@creativesolutionstoart]

Yes, it is one of my favorites. It’s like a cross between a rose and a carnation. I love your work❤️

[@gee355Art]

Hi, thanks for the kind comments!! I'm actually thinking of painting a carnation as one of my next projects... :D

[@NewTica]

Beautifully painted. I like that you went back to add depth.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! That perfectionist streak can be a blessing and a curse ☺ but it definitely needed more depth. Thanks for watching!

[@stephanieti8946]

Thank you so very much for this detailed video! I have wanted to paint a Peony and am going to paint with you now! I really appreciated your calm voice and pace and love the way you used both the background and the dark gray to give the flower a life of its own as well as the hint of leaves and stems.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! I hope the video is useful to you when you try to paint it! :D

[@reaberilla7134]

I lorve this peony! It's so vibrant! It's so colourful! It's such a masterpiece! Love it!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! This one was a lot of fun to paint, using just those 2 colours for the main flower kept it really simple but still allowed quite a bit of depth. Plus, leaving those white edges was like leaving a pale tone in itself, giving me an extra light tone to work with. Thanks for watching!

[@1Thedairy]

I should have watched this before I started my painting as it would have been very helpful. I think it's beautiful and, of course, you make it look so easy! I'll have another try. Thank you for posting.

[@gee355Art]

I'm glad it was useful to you :D I think people on KZbin can make everything look deceptively easy!! I've got a lot of experience behind me, but still so much to learn :D and the path is neverending, I guess (but creatively, so much fun!) Thanks for watching and giving your feedback!

[@girllovesmakeup]

I love how you explain every step! It's really helpful. I'm just starting with watercolors and I really enjoy your work! :)

[@gee355Art]

No problem and thanks for the feedback, its good to know i'm making it clear to follow :D Good luck with your own paintings :)

[@kathywilden7702]

very well done! I love the way you explain how you painted every part of the flower. It helps to understand why certain technique is done.

[@gee355Art]

Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching :D It's good to know I'm not just talking too much sometimes ;)

[@TheNarrowboatExperience]

Wow this is amazing. Thank you for sharing your techniques.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it useful :D

[@betsywilsonczt3290]

Beautiful! Love that white edge!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you :D the white edges first worked in a Purple Aeonium painting, waaaay back in 2013 which unfortunately I did not video but just took progress stills of :( I think it really helps to separate the petals from each other!

[@doncrosby2079]

Thank you for sharing your techniques! Absolutely beautiful!

[@gee355Art]

Thanks for the feedback and for watching!

[@rainbowfox1934]

Lovely painting. I appreciated the idea of dropping water into the bends of the petals. Bye, the bye. The original photo is more purple than pink. Great demonstration.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! Yeah, I Think I used a bit of artistic license with the colours, probably so that I could just use a couple of colours and keep it simple! Thanks for watching!

[@Kandicookheller]

I love this so much and I love your techniques. Thank you for a great lesson. You are amazing and I love peonies because I grow them and now I hope to paint them and have been having trouble just drawing them!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for watching! This was very satisfying to both draw and paint but i'm glad I drew it at this stage :) I've seen Peonies when ALL the petals have unfurled and it looks far more challenging to capture :D I'm actually thinking of painting another one for my next project, but really cropped and close-up, showing the complex centre with big petals around it!! I have done some drawing videos all about JUST drawing the flowers and you can see them in my playlist 'Drawing Flowers' if you want? (There are no Peonies in there yet...)

[@Kandicookheller]

I plan on checking out ALL your videos Gee. I just love all your work. I did try out my Winsor and Newton markers last night and I love how my art turned out. I did a lady slipper and it turned out great. I inked it afterward and it is beautiful. I will continue to use them and other markers to do flowers and take it from there, but I want to learn more from YOU. You are a wonderful artist and a great teacher. I could watch you for hours. Thank you so much. I am a retired nurse and art is my new passion. I had to learn to use a different side of my brain after several brain surgeries for a tumor so the artistic side of my brain was left untouched, but I can't be a nurse anymore due to memory issues. I was never interested in art until a year ago. Now I'm obsessed!

[@chinwantereekul9070]

Look likes a real one. So beautiful

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much!

[@gillinacook1477]

I really like your painting Technic - you do enjoy the vibrant of colours, this is the same for me too. Of course I like watching the watercolour makers best cos of the vibrant finish. i use your technic to my paintings. thank you for your time.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for the feedback, its always good to know if my videos are being helpful as it helps me plan for future videos. Thank you for watching!

[@AnitaHadley]

I loved it! Very informative. Will practice more flowers in this style.

[@gee355Art]

Glad it was helpful! 👍

[@jasonbovee7693]

After watching a number of your videos, I think what I find most enjoyable about them is their accessibility. The step-by-step narration of your thought process is an empowering influence when tackling a new medium, especially one as difficult as I find watercolor painting to be. The addition of a photo comparison at the end was most welcome, and I hope it becomes a regular feature in future videos. :)

[@gee355Art]

Yep, the subscribers have spoken and I have listened!! :D It was a good idea to include a shot of the reference pic and I should have done it on all the flowers - i will do from now on! I think the first few videos I ever did were just speed-paintings and I felt there was something missing: the explanation of what I was doing and why! I wish more of the artists I watch and admire would share a bit more of their process but i don't mind rewinding and guessing :D Thanks for the support and feedback, always a terrific motivator!

[@mirametzler]

I love that you mix color on the paper, is so invigorating! I have a question about this style of watercolor, especially when you leave the white of the paper as an outline, is the underdrawing visible? Do you even erase the pencil marks?

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! :D Yes, the underdrawing is visible so I usually try to rub the lines out until they are very faint before I start or at stages as I paint the picture. I use a putty rubber to really try to fade the lines as much as possible whilst still being able to make out the shapes!

[@susanshirley7846]

Yes! Great questions Mira! I was needing to know the answer to those very questions myself! 😃Let me know if you find out the answers! 😊Would appreciate it . 🙏

[@gip002]

thank you for posting. you gave a very clear description of what you were doing and why, which was very useful! thanks.

[@gee355Art]

No problem - the feedback from everyone suggests they prefer to hear a running commentary or narrative as the work is created and that's all good with me :D I just worry I talk too much sometimes ;)

[@shallremainnameless1998]

Love the look of the paint on the paper; must be something about Bockingford.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you - it is my favourite watercolour paper by far!! :D

[@susanshirley7846]

Wow! Absolutely beautiful painting! Wish I could draw an paint that well!!! 😕Great job! Thanks for sharing your techniques. I have a lot to learn! 🤔

[@floratan2890]

Beautiful painting! I like how you narrate every step. I picked up some useful tips. Thank you!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for that feedback! I'm glad you got something useful from it :)

[@hanadvify]

thank you for your wonderful pointers. i finally found a technique that works for me. your video improved my watercolor over the course of 4 days. please continue the awesome job :)

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for watching! I'll keep posting painting videos in a mixture of speeded-up and real time but with a conmmentary showing you what I'm doing and why!! :D

[@ths3297]

Oh wow. This is utterly gorgeous. I've been asked to paint a peony and I'm very nervous. I'm going to practice following your shape and technique a few times before jumping in and use the photo reference I have. This is so beautiful ❤️

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much for the kind words and for watching! They are beautiful flowers, so do let me know how you get on with the painting :D

[@uzmaagha4203]

One of THE BEST tutorials out there....love learning from your wisdom.😍

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much!!! I'm just sharing how I've learned to do things over the years 😉👍 I appreciate the feedback.

[@BonVoyageKitty]

Thank you for this video and explanations about your techniques. They are my favorite flower, I'm going to give this a try. Cheers!

[@gee355Art]

Awesome! I'm glad you feel inspired to have a go at it - let me know how you get on with it! 👍

[@SathishKumar-pw9fu]

Excellent&outstanding illustration.By the way is it possible to do this much fine details in Bockingford hot press ?.which one you prefer NOT(Cold press) or Rough or Hot press?

[@gee355Art]

Thanks for the feedback! I tried using hot press once and did not like it - it was a bit like painting on Bristol Board :( but maybe I'll give it another try... I always try to use cold press with a rough finish as I love the texture that can give to the finished painting and it seems to give you a bit more time to work the paint about. But I am going to try painting on Bristol Board again soon, because it gives it a different finish :D

[@1logue01]

Just beautiful!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for watching and commenting! :D

[@jacquelineread8416]

Love the simple palette!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!

[@sherrywoods4630]

Lovely! I want to try it. Wow..what a great tip about leaving the tiny bit of white on the edges. It makes such a difference! And here Ilm trying to paint right up to the lines.

[@gee355Art]

Sometimes painting right up to the lines is good :D but I find that the watercolour can sometimes 'bleed' along an edge if you have layered up 3/4 layers of colour already. Glad you found it useful though :) Thanks for watching and the feedback!

[@sherrywoods4630]

gee massam Art - the other hint I found quite useful is to use clean water to flow back into the petal to create the "ruffle". Ah, so - let the water do the work. Brilliant!

[@gee355Art]

Yup! You just need to be brave and not try to control it so much (easier said than done sometimes!), let the water flow where it wants to... :D

[@lazulianwater]

Beautiful painting! I have some questions: For the background, how do you get the pigment so opaque and dark while still keeping the wash juicy? This is something I've been struggling with for a long time. If I try to get the pigment to be more opaque by using less water then I run into the problem of keeping the paint wet enough to continue the background wash without it drying out mid-way. Any tips on this?

[@gee355Art]

You raise a good point and one i'm always worried about because I use pans/halfpans, whereas tubes of paint seem to give artists a lot more colour with their water! :) In this picture I took colour straight from the pans with a wet brush and put it straight onto the paper and kept mixing it there quickly as I went along. I keep the pans wet throughout so a good amount of paint will come away with the brush, so i'm never adding JUST water or mixing colours in a palette tray first either (both of which dilute your colours further). It also might be the colours themselves? I used permanent alzarin crimson and permanent rose in the background, so maybe they are better quality because they are described as permanent? I only found out the other day that the cadmium colours are more opaque than other colours that appear more watery and washy :D Hope this helps!! Let me know how you get on :)

[@caroleclark4453]

Love your paintings and the commentary explanations. Will definitely give it a go. Any tips on drawing the design? That's probably my weakest area.Many thanks

[@gee355Art]

The drawing is important but I try to not be too fussy, after all its the colour painting I know I'm looking forward to! :) Sometimes I start in the middle but other times I work from the outside inwards :D I did a video of a tulip being drawn not so long ago and this gives an insight into how I draw out the flowers first. Here's the link to it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYPcoqVvftmZZs0 I hope it helps you out! :D

[@dkartomarmo]

absolutely beautifull

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!

[@gloriasalcedo855]

Great contrasts and vibrant colours. Did you wet some of the petals before dropping in the colour at the beginning?

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! I think with this one, the paint was applied directly and then I added clean water drops here and there. I do like adding paint to water on the paper but don't actually do as much of that as I would like - I get a bit impatient and just want to get the colour on straightaway :D Thank you for watching!

[@345643564365434]

какая прелесть!!!, не говорю по-английски,но видео очень доступное)) спасибо за такой замечательный урок

[@gee355Art]

No problem! Thank you for watching it and making a comment! :D

[@GabrielleCarbonneau]

Wow! Lovely.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you - I really loved doing this one!! :D

[@linseed__]

Beautiful work and choice of colors :)

[@gee355Art]

Thanks! I just like to keep it simple and limit my colours - makes me procrastinate less... hopefully! :)

[@huongtrinh8609]

I love it. Thank you!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for watching! 🙂

[@nourih9420]

... Simply lovely... 💕

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! :D

[@michaelchambers1413]

Just started watercolours (Bit late, 65 years old!) Really enjoyed having a go at this. Biggest problem I found was getting the background to look even. Maybe I need some bigger brushes!

[@gee355Art]

Hi, glad to hear you're giving painting a go!!! With the background, don't worry about it looking even - part of the fun with watercolour is how the water can, 'do it's own thing,' giving you an uneven surface of strong colour and diluted colour! You're on the journey now,! 👍😀

[@susanshirley7846]

Well hey! 69 almost 70 here just starting too! Been retired 4 yrs medical reasons unexpectedly! Due to that and caring for elderly mama haven't gotten the chance to have ME time!!! ☹️Bought everything I need to paint months ago! However .. life keeps throwing so much at me faster than I blink!!! 😯Every chance I get I love watching these pros paint! Bet you are having fun. Noticed on other sites most of the viewers are our age and older too! So hey not to worry bout age! Just have fun! You an We deserve it, right?? 😃Happy painting!

[@helenamonaghan766]

Really beautiful 💗

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for the kind comment! I really loved painting this one, peonies have such complex petal shapes as they unfurl.

[@jeanmilhollin5176]

Wow What I love you explained as you go Most beautiful work

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! I'm glad the explanation worked for you :D Thanks for watching!

[@anartistpatty8912]

Thank you so much for your video. It's beautiful red color.

[@gee355Art]

Hi, thank you so much for watching what I do and for commenting! 👍🙂

[@tanyaperrin8844]

Beautiful!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much! :)

[@lisalam1066]

Thanks for this video and the detailed explanation! 👍

[@gee355Art]

No problem! I'm glad to share whatever arty hints and tips I can :D

[@mercedeslopezcharro967]

Amazing. Great flower great voice, thanks for sharing x

[@gee355Art]

Thank you :D and you're welcome!

[@findforu450]

Thank you very much .

[@gee355Art]

Hi! Thanks and i'm glad that you liked it.

[@dear4710]

How so beautiful!!! and so great work! Thank you for sharing! It helps me so lot!!! in a so beautiful way!!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!! I had a blast painting this one and it's one of my favourites - I'm so glad you like it :D

[@sooart5333]

so beautiful~!!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! :D

[@frrostbotz]

Does your paper wripple when your finished?

[@gee355Art]

It CAN ripple a bit as I go along but not massively and when its finished its fairly flat. I don't stretch paper as its so fussy :) but I do use 300gsm paper which is very thick, so less likely to ripple/cockle anyway. Thanks for watching and for your question!

[@suziturton7268]

Super helpful, thanks!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for watching :D

[@mmlinke1]

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! This is one of my favourites :D

[@kriswashburn274]

Thank you this is very helpful. I really liked it when you showed how you drew a tulip and then showed painting it.

[@marisvanhattum]

I loved the video. Can you also make a flower with background with promarkers?

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! So you mean a flower & background done completely with promarkers? If that's what you want, I can do that... in fact I've been thinking about it for some time!! :D

[@nourih9420]

.. Is it necessary to draw out any objects with pencil before coloring them...?

[@gee355Art]

peony Roses no, you don't have to draw them out with pencil - I just find it easier when I'm painting something quite small, this was 12cmx12cm 😃

[@karenhoward303]

I love it!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! :D

[@reaberilla7134]

Nice! I like it!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you - this is one of my favourites too! :)

[@reaberilla7134]

I love the luminousity on this one! It's a perfect peony!

[@vegetarianindianfood]

Its just beautiful..

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!! Peonies are such beautiful flowers and it was fun to do all that pink! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@sylamseto]

So the painting technique is as same as painting a rose?

[@gee355Art]

Yes, I probably use the same technique for the 2 of them as I painted them in sequence so I was probably 'in the zone' a bit :D I probably made more use of white highlights for the Rose painting and more use of the 'dropping in' water/paint in the Peony so there might be LITTLE subtle differences between the 2... ;) For a different style, you might want to watch the Daffodil painting from last year, where I try a more fluid and expressive approach to the painting. Thanks for watching!!

[@vittorinafeletti2706]

Perfetto.😮

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!

[@lynda7254]

Absolutely lovely ! Thank you for sharing... I've just subscribed; at almost 68 am new to painting and hope to someday grow-up to be able to paint like you do ;-) Again thank you - much appreciated !!!

[@gee355Art]

Hi, thank you for the feedback ☺ I enjoy making the videos so it's great to know you're watching them! If there's anything specific that you think would be good for a future video, just let me know 😆🖒

[@marylizart]

Great info! Ty for sharing!

[@gee355Art]

Thanks for the feedback - glad it was useful to you! :)

[@kokkeekoo3917]

Hi Gee, your peony really, really look good. Is it possible to get a PDF line drawing from you? I can then try to follow your instructions. Thanks

[@gee355Art]

Hi! That's a great idea - I will look into getting a line version done this week and I'll let you know where I post it for download!! 👍

[@maureendutoit6286]

I am so happy you have narrated this painting an$ let’s us know wha5 colours you are using and telling us what you are doing step by step,I love your painting but you do not usually narrate,so it’s difficult to try to follow,so Thank you,Thank you,Thank you

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for the lovely feedback! I think it was around this time that my subscribers said they liked the narration. Since 2016/17 I've probably narrated most of them but that's a good tip about always including the colours I'm using, thanks 👍🙂

[@dear4710]

So beautiful and great work! my dear!! You inspire me a lot!!!! Thank you for sharing such Art Beauty! :)

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!! If I can inspire and 'demystify' this art stuff a little, that's my goal with these tutorials! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@MD22DM]

Soooo beautiful 🙏💖👌👍🎨😮

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much!!! One of my personal favourites...!

[@Crocs4cats]

How come when you drop in the water to the wet paint you don't get blooms?

[@gee355Art]

You know what, i've never really thought about that before but I have 2 theories: 1) I'm not adding enough water to make the colours bloom like a tree or that 'delta' view that you can get. 2) I think the pigment of watercolour markers doesn't bloom and separate like classic watercolours do... So you know you can get those watercolours that can go really grainy and 'separate'? I just don't think the pigment in watercolour markers works that way?? That just a theory but it does make for smoother, softer bloom/backrun effects! Hope this helps!

[@Crocs4cats]

gee massam Art Oh gosh, I'm so dumb, it never occurred to me that it was because they are markers🙄😂 I'm going to test it out later though I've only got some old letraset Aqua markers I bought years ago and never used.

[@gee355Art]

I must apologise - you're right! This WAS painted using classic watercolours NOT watercolour markers! :D So... I think point 1 is true and I think point 2 IS true but not relevant :D It must be the paints I chose to use on this piece that worked this way - so not the sedimenty or grainy watercolours that you can get? I am also using Artists Watercolour paints by Winsor & Newton, I think they are their best quality ones, so maybe that makes a difference too? You're making me think I should do a separate swatch for all my watercolours and drop in a big blob of water to see how they all react to backruns/blooms! It would probably be a very useful thing to do!! If you do some experiments, let me know how it goes! :)

[@Crocs4cats]

gee massam Art 😂😂😂 No worries. I did watch one of your marker videos, I should have checked😂 That would be an interesting experiment to see. I'm mostly using WnN Cotman and White Nights but I have a few DS and one of those granulates so much, I don't know what I'd ever use it for but I'm still learning.

[@germaicanlady]

Lovely! The colour difference only matters if you see the photo. If, in real life, the flower looked warmer, it may well have been the case as the photo looks quite cool (as in colour temperature) to me and you might have warmed it up in post. Instead you may have remembered the colours you painted from the original. Anyhow, it doesn't matter because these colours exist in peonies and it's beautiful.

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! I am not too worried about it, I suppose I would have liked to get a MORE pinky purple quality but I am happy with the more red colours that took shape. It might be one of the drawbacks of using such a limited palette I guess... Thanks for the feedback and for watching! :)

[@irashanti677]

MAGNIFICENT 🪷

[@creativesolutionstoart]

I look at that flower, and I can smell it

[@gee355Art]

😄 thank you!! You know I've never smelled the fragrance of a Peony, is it nice?

[@creativesolutionstoart]

gee massam Art I think I left my response in the wrong comment section, but I’m sure you’ll probably see it… I just replied that yes it is One of my favorites. It’s like a cross between a rose and a carnation lovely work❤️

[@teresamitchell-banks2286]

Amazing

[@gee355Art]

Thank you! 😄👍

[@nettiemoss324]

This is beautiful! what I cannot understand is why you haven't got heaps more followers - you're as good/better than others! Keep going ;-) Well - I just looked again and see the numbers are creeping up - great!

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much!! I have a theory on that - think my posting schedule is not always as frequent or regular as KZbin would like it to be and maybe I need to show my 'human' face a bit more in my videos 😂 I love making the videos and I'm going to keep sharing as long as I can find the time to do them. Thanks for your support and kind words, they mean a lot and keep me motivated 👍

[@nettiemoss324]

@@gee355Art I hadn't thought of the fact you are in the UK so when you post the US are possible asleep! I tend to be a night owl and fit in with their time!

[@gee355Art]

@@nettiemoss324 yeah, I have started experimenting with scheduling the videos to go live at 7am but I guess that's midnight for LA? 🤣 I need to think about this a bit more...

[@nettiemoss324]

@@gee355Art You need to do them for 2 or 3am!

[@gee355Art]

@@nettiemoss324 🤷🏻‍♂️ I can try that, for sure. It would be interesting to see if it made a difference... 🤔

[@jeanmilhollin5176]

thanks

[@gee355Art]

Thank you for watching!

[@reginahellebuyck552]

Wonderful

[@gee355Art]

Thank you!

[@wawazuzzy2064]

bedazzling brush skills

[@gee355Art]

super awesome comment ;)

[@pattismythe2769]

Amazing..... the flower is jumping out of the page.....

[@gee355Art]

Thank you so much!!! :D I really enjoyed painting this one!

[@susanshirley7846]

Oh well if I had kept reading I would have found he has already answered you!🙄 Well thanks so much and happy painting everyone! 😃

[@shallremainnameless1998]

That came out wrong, I wasn't demeaning your skill

[@gee355Art]

:D dont worry about it - I didn't even think of it that way at all! :) Thanks for watching & commenting!