This is a short presentation to show how I painted a Nandina frond using watercolour. At this stage, February 2019, I'm an absolute rookie painter. I hope to record my improvement over time and share it with others to encourage them to have a go at something creative, too.

1. Watercolour Nandina
By Heather King
January 2019

2. My subject
I chose a Nandina frond because I like
their delicacy and the fine edge of red
around the green leaves. Also, it has a
fairly simple shape, as leaves go.

3. Step 1: Outline
Actually, I wasn’t thinking in steps. I wasn’t
even sure I could paint this thing at all, so I
just started with what seemed the most
obvious place – painting an outline.
It’s hard to know for sure the names of the
colours I’ve used, as the paint set I used for
this piece doesn’t have names on the
colours. Best I could do was compare the
colours with a set of oil pastels from the
same brand (Mont Marte). Going by that,
I’ve used ‘sap green’ and ‘crimson’, although
I always thought crimson was a bright red,
not a strong pink, as this is.
Apologies for the crooked photo. I hadn’t
thought to share it at that point.

4. Step 2: Colouring in
I was pretty pleased with how the painted
outline went, but it definitely looked
unfinished, so I decided to start adding
some colour to the leaves. I just diluted the
sap green I’d used for the outline and used
that for the fill.

5. Step 3: Adding depth
Well, I can’t believe I’m talking like an artist,
but here it is – the step in which I add the
illusion of depth by suggesting some
shadows behind the leaves.
For the shadows, I used a very dilute mix of
the same pink I’d used for the outline, and
what I think must be ‘Hooker’s green’ (a
kind of bluish dark green), also very dilute.
I also mixed up a mauve-grey in there, too,
using all the colours I’d been using up to this
point. I dabbed it on with a damp sponge,
but I ended up painting over it in the next
step.

6. Step 4: More background
After adding the shadows, there was still a bit too
much white space for my taste. It looked a bit
jarring.
A bit at a loss as to which colour might serve as a
background, I consulted my colour wheel (also by
Mont Marte). That suggested using some kind of
mauve.
I can no longer remember which colours I mixed
for the mauve, or whether I used one of the
mauves on my palette. I think it was probably the
latter. I used a fairly large round brush and
carefully filled in the largest of the white spaces I
could see, leaving a bit of a margin around the
leaves and stems. It only took a few minutes.
I also put a very dilute mauve border around the
outside, right up against the tape.

7. Step 5: Enjoy!
I let the piece dry and then removed the
tape. I was actually amazed and extremely
pleased that I’d been able to paint anything
remotely resembling my subject.
I see the date on the piece was 3 January
2019 – the day after the painting afternoon
with my niece. That means this was only day
two of my painting career.
In total, I’d say I spent about an hour and a
half on this painting.
So, I hope this has inspired you to have a go
at something you’ve thought until now you
could never do.
Thanks for reading!