Watercolor: Florals & Botanicals

Creating a Floral Landscape

with Joan Hansen

INCORPORATING ELEMENTS of the environment can add interest to a floral composition and highlight the vibrant colors of flowers. Sometimes I like to capture a quiet corner in a garden or a sparkling seaside dotted with spring blossoms. I enjoy the challenge of creating the illusion of space and depth by overlapping objects and varying color, values, and size. But the floral elements in the scene allow me to maintain a sense of intimacy in a wider landscape setting.

Focusing on the Foreground

You can showcase a particularly striking plant by zooming in on one or two blooms, as I have done with these colorful birds of paradise. Focus attention on the flowers by placing them in the extreme forefront of ...