Forsythia Notecard
2020-04-23
Send someone you love a spring notecard!
Materials
Strathmore Watercolor Cards
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Pigment List
All paints I use are M. Graham transparent watercolors. Other brands I highly recommend are Daniel Smith and Schminke.
- Cadmium Yellow
- Azo Yellow
- Viridian
- Quinacridone Rust
- Cobalt Violet
- White Gouache
Fun Stuff!
#4 Isabey Rigger
#8 Isabey Round
This entire notecard should take you less than 10 minutes to paint, sketch and all. Keep your brush dancing and have fun with it!

I start with a very quick pencil sketch.
Then I dash some azo yellow in the main flower areas.

A few more splatter and that's done!

The yellow needs a little contrast. So I add a few dashes of viridian mixed with a lot of azo yellow for the leaves.

Real contrast begins with quinacridone rust for the branches. Add a touch of cobalt violet to dull the bright red brown.

Finally, I use a fountain pen (with a spring theme, of course) to draw a little black, but more moving the wet paint around. I'm adding just a few scribbled lines to define the forsythia shapes.
Since I'm not taking this seriously, I move back and forth between my pen and paintbrush, redefining areas. Adding a bit more color or definition where it's needed.