Warm Colors & Cool Colors: Paint Florals in Gouache

Tutorials

May 29

Warm Colors & Cool Colors: Paint Florals in Gouache I by Larissa Yeung Fung

I have been working with warm colors and cool colors for the past few months, mainly because I was producing my Skillshare class Paint Warm & Cool Colors in Gouache. But I really enjoyed creating my own warm color palette and cool color palette by mixing colors in gouache. And since I had some leftover paint after producing the class, I decided to use it to paint a new work.

Warm Colors & Cool Colors: Paint Florals in Gouache Tutorial | the Challenge

In my class Paint Warm & Cool Colors in Gouache, I painted the same subject twice by using warm colors only and then cool colors only. In this new work, I would like to paint the same picture using warm colors and cool colors. I wanted to place warm colors and cool colors side by side, so I decided to divide the paper into sections and paint them with alternating warm colors and cool colors.

Preparing the Sketch

I divided the paper into six sections with random shapes (see below Sketch preparation step 1). I left some space between these sections, because it was easy for me to place warm colors and cool colors in this way.

I decided to paint florals, a subject that I love drawing and painting. I drew the flowers across the page, some big and some small (see below Sketch preparation step 2 & Sketch preparation step 3). Then I drew leaves behind the flowers (see below Sketch preparation step 4). In the end, I just erased the lines in between the sections (see below Sketch preparation step 5).

Sketch preparation step 1

Sketch preparation step 2

Sketch preparation step 3

Sketch preparation step 4

Sketch preparation step 5

For the remainder of the process, I painted the background colors for each section first, then painted the leaves, and then painted the flowers to finish off. The reason why I painted the background colors first is to remind myself which section is in warm colors or cool colors. It will make the process of painting leaves and flowers much smoother.