1) Using the 9 x 12in. Liquitex Basics Canvas Textured Paper Pad, measure a 5 x 7in. area and mask with a low adhesive tape.
2) Choose a vibrant color to contrast with your leaf and flower shapes and fill in the masked area to create your background. In this example, we applied Cadmium Orange Hue with the Filbert #12 brush. Once dry, peel the tape to reveal the clean edges of your background.
3) It can be useful to create a small sketch of your composition before painting but if you feel comfortable, you can also sketch directly on your surface with paint. Consider balancing large shapes with small shapes and bright tones with more muted tones.
4) Begin to paint your shapes on the paper. We started with our long, pointed leaf shapes using a Basics Round #6 brush and Bright Aqua Green mixed with Titanium White. The ratio of green to white can be altered depending on how light you choose the body of the leaf shapes to be.
5) Smaller flower shapes were added using Brilliant Purple with Titanium White, followed by additional tulip shaped flowers using Light Blue Permanent and Titanium White. For smaller shapes, use the Basics Round #1 Brush.
6) Add in the red flower shapes using the Quinacridone Magenta straight from the tube & the Round #6 brush. The viscosity of the paint and the pointed end of the brush make painting fine lines very easy.
7) Stems and wispy leaf shapes were created using Light Green Permanent and a Basics Round #1 Brush.
8) Put a second coat on the bigger leaf shapes to lighten and warm them up a bit. Mix the Bright Aqua Green with Titanium White and add a little Primary Yellow. Take the color and apply with the Round #6 brush. Also add a second coat to the blue tulip shaped flowers with Light Blue Permanent.
9) To fill in space and add a light, airy quality include final details of colorful dots and petals made with Light Blue Permanent, Primary Yellow, and Titanium White. Leaf veins were added with Light Green Permanent using the Basics Round #1 Brush.