03 Oct Charlotte Mason Brush Drawing: Plate 4

Today we’re going to work through Plate 4 from May Mallam’s book, Brush Drawing as Applied to Natural Forms and Common Objects. This is part of our Charlotte Mason Brush Drawing series and is our next step in our work towards watercolor painting.

This plate guides us in a natural progression from the filled shapes of Plate 3, to much more detailed flower and leaf shapes. Because of the detail, this lesson is time-consuming. There are four different flowers on this plate, and I would recommend dividing up your practice into one flower at a time. This will mean first practicing numbers one to four, then five, then 6, and finally seven.

Materials Needed

• The book, Brush Drawing as Applied to Natural Forms amd Commom Objects by May Mallam
• A quality watercolor brush, size 6 round
• Watercolor paints, pick 2 or 3 to start (the book suggests getting started with indigo or sepia), or get the set
• Watercolor paper – for practice, however, we like to use manila graph paper. It is cheaper than watercolor paper, but absorbent enough to use with watercolor paints.
• A small container of water
• A small plate or palette for mixing
• A sloping surface for the paper (to be transparent, we do not have a sloping surface)
• Napkins to blot paint, and to clean fingers and dry brushes
• Nature specimens such as leaves, flowers, feathers, pinecones, or shells
• A white screen or cardboard with a hinged stand that can hold specimens

Happy Handicrafts Video: Brush Drawing, A Charlotte Mason Homeschool Series, Plate 4

Plate 4

This lesson began with painting the creeping buttercup. We started by painting the stamins and surrounding them with the five petals. Then we painted a slightly different view of the flower, first painting the sepals turned upwards, then once again filling in the petals. After practicing the lower leaf, we brought it all together in a group.

We had begun to practice the detached specimens on our grid paper from our Brush Work series but quickly found it to be inadequate. The paint bleeds slightly outwards, making the details in this lesson messy and inaccurate. We switched over to watercolor paper and this worked much better.

Next we worked on painting the geranium flower. First we practiced the petals, sepals, and buds. Then we put them all together in a pretty little bouquet.

The third flower was the blackberry. This one was very detailed. We began with the stamens, then painted the petals in all around, creating a beautiful flower. We added a couple of different views, then put it all together in a group.

The fuchsia flower was our final one in this lesson. It begins with a simple, familiar brush form and develops into an intricate bloom that you will be amazed that you’re actually painting!

This plate took time and practice, but it is so rewarding to see that progress that we’ve made, isn’t it?!

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