Paint Box Colors
Ranunculus blooms in a riot of paint box reds and pinks. Brightening the countertop, they are perfect for April, when the Northeast is slowly greening, but I am impatient for more.
Tips and Techniques: Here’s a look at my basic kit:
- 2 Micron archival pens, black, 02 and 005
- 3 Escota Versatil travel watercolor brushes, sizes 2, 6, 12
- 2 Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils, F and 2B
- pencil sharpener
- Watercolors (Winsor Newton and Daniel Smith) in an altered Schmincke tin: cobalt blue, phthalo blue, ultramarine blue, indanthrone blue, phthalo green*, sap green, carmine red*, quin rose, alizarin crimson, pyrol orange, burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw umber, yellow ochre, quin gold, aureolin yellow, lemon yellow*, Hansa yellow medium (*these colors are fairly new to me, so they’re still in the testing phase.)
- Small spray bottle for pre-wetting my paints, small jar with a lid for water
- Scrap piece of paper for testing colors
- Extra: Princeton Neptune 1/4-inch dagger brush (nice for the fine foliage of this flower)
Drawn In 
Great watercolor set up for easy painting. I have some Ranunculus blooms sitting on my table right now. Your watercolor rendition is beautiul.
Thanks Sharon– I’ve been eying ranunculus at Trader Joe’s since February…finally put them in the cart!
Me too, that is where I bought my bouquet, haha!
Jean, Helpful post! Thanks. Your flowers are beautiful. Inspiring…happy I found you. And Nina! She is pretty inspiring, too. Cinda
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Likewise! Keep up the great work you’re doing as well!
Beautiful!
Beautiful painting. Thanks for sharing all this information. The whole post is so beautiful.
Thanks Hanna- Glad the info is useful. I always like to see what materials other artists use.
Beautiful, thanks so much for sharing! Such helpful inspiration…Linda L.
Always happy when I post something worthwhile!
Jean, I love how the sketch looks so ‘realistic’ and yet when I zoomed in, it is painterly and loose! I strive for that.. but usually end up tight! Beautiful…
This started and ended very loose. It actually looked quite a mess after the first layer of watercolor…but sometimes that’s the sign of good things to come. I did a variety of chores in between waiting for paint layers to dry–maybe that helped me not to fuss. I finished it with a bit of spatter, which didn’t make the photo, but adds a bit of liveliness to the final piece
so pretty!
I love ranunculus, too bad it costs so much to buy at the store
Yes– it was a treat to buy– and paint.
Lovely Jean. What paper is your journal please ?
I use Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbooks.The paper is good for ink and watercolor.
Thanks for that🌼🌼
Jean, I just love the colour study in your photo above. Right now I’m putting together a colour post on ‘Pink and Blue’ to publish later in the week on my blog. Would you permit me to include this photo among the 15 or so that I present in my post. I credit your name, the blog-post and also the blog-home. (You’ve kindly done a guest post for me in the past). Kind regards, Liz
Sure Liz. That’s fine.
Thank you very much Jean!
I’m always very happy to find your posts. Beautiful, as always. Best regards from an Italian warm spring…
Your flowers are glorious, lovely to see them spreading across the page! Nice set up too.
Thanks Anna!
Beautiful. I am with you. Our trees are so far behind. This is a happy splash of colour.
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The Ranunculas are so lush, I can understand how they’re the perfect remedy for a slow Spring. I like seeing what’s in your kit – thanks for that!
Beautiful watercolour work and nice to see what paints you used for this…
I love roses and you have captured the image so beautifully, Wow! Roses are the hardest to even draw let alone painstaking one for me.
Flowers with detailed layers and subtle shades are hard! Sometimes I’m successful, sometimes not…but practice definitely helps! Keep at it!