How I create Expressive Botanical Watercolor Paintings

In all honesty it's been over two weeks since my brush touched watercolor painting. Every time I return to art from a brief interlude it feels as though I have forgotten everything. When I dive back into a botanical piece it feels as if I am learning illustration for the first time again. 

I grabbed my cell phone, which has become my friend recently, and picked a few floral images to paint rough patterns. This time I decided to completely reimagine my painting process. Here's how I did it. 

The Process

First, I imagine that the leaves are dancing. That's how I achieve movement with floral subjects. The botanical illustrators traditionally would do pencil drawings and shade in the areas of the leaves or form to study value before adding color. 

Instead, I decided to contemplate movement in this painting. I imagined the plant is always moving in some way, even if it looks like it's not in the image. In my imagination the leaves and branches are dancing to the sounds of nature. I also compare this to how a conceptual artist draws the figure. The contour drawings or the 5-minute quick figure drawing sketches that intended to show movement are similar to what I conceptualize in the first steps of a botanical painting, except I do this with a paint brush.

Botanical art is usually known as a strict and scientific art, defined by a very controlled and accurate depiction of various species. However, my purpose botanical work explores the idea that plants can be both expressive, capture movement, and still be accurate, or in other words, true to its scientific genre. 

Come back soon for more about botanicals and design.