Australian Orchids
Choosing a subject has to be the most difficult stumbling block. The number one question to always ask of your subject is whether it’s worth painting.
When I first started to paint with watercolours 26 years ago, I did a few landscape lessons and found these beneficial as they taught me about colour mixing, fluidity of paint and its effects on different papers. I taught myself botanical painting over time but never had the opportunity to do classes as I lived in a country town in north-east Victoria.
As a child, I had always loved the wildflowers of our region, so they were some of my first subjects. Ground orchids fascinated me with their amazing variety of bizarre shapes and intricate patterning. These turned out to be the best subjects to learn the art as they had no large areas of wash and I didn’t need an awful lot of skill. It seemed a lot like I was colouring in between the lines just so long as the colour and tone were right.
I see many beginners stumble over their compositions. With a bit of luck your plant will already lend itself to a workable composition. On most occasions you will still have to work out how a plant will look its best on your paper or canvas and this dilemma can be solved by drawing
