I love peonies. It’s no secret, especially for those of you who have been following along here for the past few years. During Peony season I love creating bouquets of either peonies on their own or in combination with other flowers like we did on our recent trip to Charleston. I also have a peony painting by artist Christie Younger in my writing studio and a large photograph on canvas title ‘The French Peony’ by famed floral photographer Georgianna Lane hanging over my bed!
So a few Saturdays ago when we were deciding which watercolor project we wanted to try out, the pink peony project won hands down.
This was the third project we’ve done from Sarah Cray of Let’s Make Art. We first took classes from Sarah Cray of Let’s Make Art during a Watercolor Summit two years ago, and since then we’ve done her honeybee project (in Bluffton), her hummingbird project (when my sister visited us last year, pre-baby) and now the pink peony project.
What I love about the projects available through Let’s Make Art is that you don’t have to buy the kit if you don’t want to. Many of projects have an outline (which is very helpful if you’re a watercolor novice like we are) and the outline is absolutely free at checkout!
Ready to add the color wash and start adding some color!
You can download the outline for the Peony from Let’s Make Art here or you can buy the kit as well if you don’t have the paints below on hand. Note: The brushes are not included in the kit and you will need a round 2 and a round 6 brush for this particular project.
I would definitely pull up Sarah’s video tutorial (that I have included at the bottom of the post) to paint along with her, and also click on the kit page above if you want to have a reference photo to look at while you paint. As Sarah mentions in her video, she does tend to paint a little fast, so don’t feel bad if you need to pause the video throughout your peony project. We definitely hit the pause button at several points!
Since she first beginning her watercolor kits, Sarah has recently creating her own brand of paints, but since we often just download the outlines and use our own paints, we choose the paints closest in color to the ones we used and then came up with our own color combinations.
Pink Peony
Watercolor Paints We Used
Dr PH Martin
Cherry Red
Iris Blue
Daffodil Yellow
Van Gogh
Lemon Yellow
Opera Rose
For Peony —
To get the similar pink to the one I created for my peony, blend the Dr. P.H. Martin Cherry Red, Van Gogh Opera Rose, then in a separate spot on your palette mix together the Dr. P.H. Martin Daffodil Yellow and Van Gogh Lemon Yellow. Add a little of each color to another area of your palette until you have just the shade that you’re hoping for.
Note: The color on your palette will look different on your watercolor paper, so test it out on a spare piece of practice paper by wetting the paper (wash) with your paint brush (for a wet on wet technique) and then dip your brush in the paint mixture you’ve created for your peony. If the color is exactly how you like it, you’re good to go. If it’s too dark simply just adjust your color values by introducing more ‘water’ for a lighter color.
For Stamens —
Use your mixture of Dr. P.H. Martin’s Daffodil Yellow and Van Gogh Lemon Yellow.
For Green Stem —
Mix Dr. P.H. Martin’s Daffodil Yellow & Iris Blue
Petals all done, time for the next step.
Just have to add the green stem and we’re all done.
Watch Sarah Cray’s Peony Watercolor Tutorial
Here is how my finished peony turned out. While I definitely got frustrated at times, and plan to paint it again when I have a peony on hand to reference, it was definitely a fun weekend project and it gave me an excuse to get more comfortable with mixing different colors and playing around with my color values.
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