Preserving Beth’s wedding bouquet as original artwork
I had the absolute pleasure of drawing Beth’s bouquet for her as a lasting memory of her beautiful bouquet from her wedding day.
The bouquet was created by Louise at May Rose Floral Design, Hereford.
It was a December wedding and the bouquet included wax flowers, roses, olive leaf and ruscus.
This is a photo by Louise of the bouquet when it was created.
This photo was lovely and clear - a really good one to be able to draw from as I was able to really look at each element and see the detail.
This is a fun perspective to draw from too - looking down from the top and so there are no stalks showing in this artwork. It also means that it could be hung in different ways (landscape or portrait).
To begin with, I draw the bouquet in ink. This is waterproof so that it doesn't bleed when I then use watercolour paints to add the colour. I leave the image for a while at this point to ensure the ink is dry and to assess the composition and see if any more needs to be added.
Next, I begin working out the colours. It is important to send photographs that accurately show the colours of your bouquet - or if they were different to how they are in the photos do let me know when you commission your piece.
I work in watercolours predominantly, using watercolour palettes and tubes of watercolours and I mix the colours to create the shade needed on a glass palette.
I start the painting element by working with the larger elements of colour, and then keep adding more layers of colour and detail, building the piece up.
This was such an enjoyable bouquet to draw - a riot of roses accompanied by those lovely greens and the delicate wax flowers. It was a real pleasure to immortalise these flowers, keeping their freshness on the page beyond the lifespan of the real flowers.
You can watch how the artwork was created in this video -