Watercolour Pulsatilla vulgaris Alba in Real Stone journal

It's been a while as with one thing or another this painting got put on hold. Of course, the fact that I struggled with it has a lot to do with the reluctance to finish it. I totally messed up because, thinking I didn't need to use masking fluid, I managed to get some paint on the white paper area for the flowers and it wouldn't lift completely off so I then ended up having to resort to white gouache. Then I couldn't do the yellow and white stamens in the right flower (lack of know-how) and ended up roughly drawing in some pencil lines (which look rubbish!). After that I called it a day before I threw the album out of the window. 

It actually looks better in the journal than on screen.

Pulsatilla vulgaris Alba in watercolour and gouache

I used Daniel Smith watercolours and a Schmincke Horadam white gouache. I had thought I would do the fine hairs on the flowers (pulsatillas are loaded with them) with a Caran C'Ache white 'Luminance' pencil but the effect was disappointingly faint. In the end I used gouache, applied with a Silver 'Black Velvet' 3000s brush, size 2.

Watercolour paintings in a Real Stone journal

Reference photo of Pulsatilla vulgaris Alba taken in my garden

Pulsatilla vulgaris Alba