Annie O'Brien Gonzalez Mixed-Media Flower Bouquet

How vibrant and luscious are these!?

My adult class created these gorgeous expressive flower bouquets inspired by the painter Annie O'Brien Gonzalez. Find her work here.

We considered analogous and complementary color schemes; contrast using black/white and pure colors/tints; variety of shape, line, pattern; and composition and movement. 

To create patterns, texture and interest we used plastic stencils from Marabu in a variety of shapes (bricks, dots, triangles, florals and geometric shapes). Bubble wrap and corrugated cardboard was used to press additional patterns.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases that may be linked in this blog.

 

Watercolor Beetles - Adult Class

These gorgeous insects were painted by my adult class using simple watercolor and detailed with fine liner and colored pencil. 

We used A5 watercolor paper and taped down the edges with Washi tape. 

The hardest part was simply mapping out the proportion of the insect from the reference photo. After that, we employed watercolor techniques and used out keen power of observation to get the bugs just right. We started with very light applications of watercolor, allowing to dry before adding additional layers for depth, dimension or deeper tonal value. The best part was adding colored pencil and fine liner to enhance some darker areas, give further dimension and contour, and to make our bugs pop! Lastly, we added light wash in the background. Our taped edges gave out pieces a nice frame. 

Love them all!