Dianne Sutherland Artist

My new online tutorial ‘Colour Mixing’ is available now! This tutorial is perfect if you struggle to mix colour using a primary palette. It includes two packed documents and 12 videos showing charts and wheels, tints, hues and shades and those all important underlying colours. With examples of putting the mixing into practice on subjects including flowers, leaves and seed pods and much more 🎨 https://www.botanicalart-online.com/short -courses

Creating the correct surface texture in leaves is key to success. I use a combination of techniques to achieve texture in both graphite and watercolour. In watercolour only selective washes create the variation in colour and there are always underlying blues and purples followed by layering and several dry brush techniques to create the right texture. It’s all in the watercolour techniques! 🎨

Mother and daughter collaboration. Handy when mother is left handed and daughter is a right handed! Lilium martagon in the style of Arthur Harry Church. Scaled up graphite and watercolour work....interesting challenge trying to get the tonal balance between the two mediums ✏️ 🎨 Polly Sutherland Artist

Mixing it up with Polly!

A collage of work by colour categorisation! funny how doing this exercise really shows up the favourites in the palette! Painted with a palette of 5 reds, 5 blues and 4 yellows, no need for anymore paints than that! Working on a colour tutorial 🎨 https://www.botanicalart-online.com/short -courses

Some new online tutorials coming up, the first one is Watercolour Techniques, available now, for release June 3rd. I decided to make this tutorial as it seems to be a subject that always creates a lot of interest in classes, especially with regard to the different dry brush techniques. See the website for this tutorial and other longer courses www.botanicalart-online.com

Browns.... with many violets and blues underneath

Artichoke! veggie tutorial for the beginners course 🙂 https://www.botanicalart-online.com/botan ical-art-beginners…

More from last weekends leaf class in Seattle. Loved it! such a lovely group 🎨

Like mother, like daughter! Was delighted to have my painting accepted for the SBA exhibition ‘Plantae’ alongside my daughter Polly, who had her Hellebore drawing accepted too. It’s the first time for Polly and our first time exhibiting together! I remember my first year exhibiting with the SBA back in 2002 I think it was. The SBA provided opportunities and an annual exhibition that has inspired many botanical artists - starting back in 1985 - long before many other societies existed and of course before social media. The Society has undergone lots of changes and continues to support botanical art and artists.... We’re both proud to be part of it 🙂 The exhibition takes place at the Mall Galleries 5th -9th June.

Just home after my first ever trip to Cornwall...yes really! Lovely class teaching my favourite little flower, Frittilaria meleagris on Vellum, with the Eden Florilegium ... and what a wonderful and talented group they are! Now I need to watch Poldatk! 😉🎨

Leaves are fascinating in their shapes and textures as well as different stages. All can be made with a range of primary colours, there is nothing that can’t be mixed with the palette of blues, yellows and reds. Love leaves, love colour❤️💛💙= 🍃 🍂 🍁

Rococo tulip. Just finished this extravagant little flower as a video tutorial and practice for a forthcoming tulip workshop in New Jersey.... that’s my idea of multi-tasking! Painted on Kelmscott goat skin, mounted on 15mm board, courtesy of William Cowley’s. Size 20.5 x 25 cm. All that remains is to clean up the vellum, sign bottom right and review for tweaks, then it’s going into the online gallery and shop. Hopefully will have time to paint another next week, the buds are gorgeous too!

Today it’s the colour purple. Associated with Royalty, magic, spirituality, creativity and mourning, purple is a pretty special colour. Mixed or layered with a range of blues and reds from delicate pale lilac to rich deep purple. Favourites in the purple mix are Quinacridone Magenta or Permanent Rose mixed with Manganese Blue, Cobalt Blue or even Winsor Blue gs, to the darks with Indanthrene Blue and Permanent Carmine. Love purple 💜

In the pink! Soft pinks here, high-light value colours are must with soft pinks, otherwise the pink can be too strong. Favourites are Quinacridone magenta, Quinacridone red or permanent rose, a touch of winsor lemon or lemon yellow nickel titanate is often required and very small amount of blue, such as cerulean, manganese blue or even cobalt. Use the same pink and more blue to make the shadow colours.... simples

Spring has definitely sprung! Came home after a couple of weeks away to find all of my Fritillara in bloom. So excited for my class painting them at the Eden Project, my first time there 💜🎨 #inbloom#spinghassprung#fritillaria#friti llariameleagris#watercolor#botanicalart# botanicalillustration#chequerboard#snake sheadfritillary#spring#springflowers#bot anicalartonline#paintingclass#edenprojec t#florilegium#learntopaint#flowersofspri ng#flowerpainter#

Brown! Guess what? .....as with the greens they’re all painted with three primaries! But Blue and violet are the underlying colours which are vital in most brown subjects and bring what could be pretty dull things to life 🍂