Step by Step Watercolor Tulips

As usual it all began with photos of gardens past. Things keep me so busy in the summer that I seldom get a chance to paint things while they're blooming.

I started with a loose pencil sketch of my main subjects.

Here you see the photo I used along with the type of paints and water brushes I carry with me. Water brushes hold water in a compartment which comes through the brush when you squeeze  the handle.

I probably should have left it alone before trying to add borders and outlining it with ink. It looked fine at this stage, don't you think so?

I took this picture so that I could compare the outlined bits with the rest of the painting in case I was making a mistake I figured that It would show me where I went wrong.

  Well, for better or worse, here is the completed painting.

The ink makes it look a bit like a stained glass window and I kind of like that about it.