So now you are thinking about narrowing down the ‘essence’ of your subject. Now all you have to do is decide what this ‘essence’ is - and then emphasise it.

Here is another example of finding the character of your subject – this time it is texture:

“Old Rambling Rose”
Watercolour on Arches Hot pressed paper 300gsm

The crinkled petals of this exquisite rose “Adelaide de Orleans” remind me of crushed silk. I wanted to create this texture so I studied what it was about the translucency of the petals, the folds, the highlights, the ridges and the subsequent cast shadows. Before I began painting, I noticed the shadow edges were soft – not hard or crisp. I loved the way the stamens cast wonderful soft shadows across the petals and leaves. I could use these shadows to give great dimension to the work. I’ll show you what I mean:

Put your finger over the stamen shadows of the spent rose (on the leaf at the left-hand bottom of painting) so that these shadows are blocked out. Notice how relatively flat and close to the leaf this spent rose looks. Now lift your finger – and voila! See how the stamens pop up and look much more pert – and more importantly – see how they create a wonderful reality and depth to the work!

Now all you have to do is emphasise these things; the illusion of silk, the softness of the shadows. Make use of any opportunity to bring three dimensions into the composition. Divide the leaves up by placing a cast shadow from a stem, for example, as you see on the leaves just above the right hand, middle. These things describe the character of this rose. I love to hear viewers of my work recognise which rose each painting is depicting! You will too.

I seldom have time to give classes these days. Although I do have my arm-twisted from time to time! I have now produced two hugely successful instruction videos ‘Glorious Garden Flowers in Watercolour – the essential techniques’ and ‘Susan Harrison-Tustain’s Watercolour Workshop – watercolour breakthroughs’ - and of course there is also my best selling US published book too: ‘Glorious Garden Flowers in Watercolour’. North Light Books, Cincinnati.