Sue Woodfine
Flowers have always been important to me - big, blowsy, look-at-me flowers with layers of curling petals and gorgeous
colours, roses, peonies, lilies – scrumptious! When trying to learn watercolour painting, what other subject could there
be for me? I’m not aiming to be scientific; I just want to get a good portrait of the flower. I want to show people how beautiful the flower is, not how botanically accurate I can be. I always paint my flowers in watercolours because the translucent nature of the paint produces a clear, bright, colourful image without the heaviness of oil or acrylic.
I always start by drawing the flower and then painting it before it opens/droops/dies. Once I have obtained as much information as I need from that flower I move on to draw and paint buds and/or other flowers. Finally, the leaves: these are not as transient as flowers so do not need to be rushed, although they are as important for the composition of the painting.
My charcoal drawings have developed as a means of working more loosely while still exercising my drawing skills. I love trying to convey sculptural quality of my subject, which is usually big and round – onions, oranges, jugs and so on. It’s the curves I love – I have real problems with straight lines!
The coloured pencil work is still developing. I have enjoyed building layers of colour when working on fruit and vegetables, but my flowers will always be in watercolour – I can’t mess about with those!
