Leaves in Watercolour: The Stages

Leaves can be one of the most challenging subjects for students. Their huge variety of shapes, textures, tones, and surfaces means they demand careful observation and patient technique. In this post, I outline some of the essential stages involved in painting a leaf, I begin with a brief overview of this Camellia leaf .

Stages of Painting a Camellia Leaf

A Camellia leaf is a mid to dark toned, shiny green leaf. With the light source coming from the upper right side, reflections bounce off the surface and must be handled with care - to avoid painting over them.

• Early layers: Begin with a blended wash. Use pale blue in the light-reflecting areas and a warm yellow undertone elsewhere. Keep the surface only lightly damp-never too wet.

• Building the hue: Apply the basic green in several controlled layers, painting carefully up to the fine veins. Some veins appear simply as light against shade on either side, while others show as fine lines.

• Veins: Veins are never white. They often need layers of colour over them to push them back into the leaf structure.

• Final detail: Use dry brush to build rich colour, depth, shadows and fine detail such as blemishes. This stage takes time and patience.

Leaf detail, dry brush stage

The Main Stages for All Leaves

OBSERVE

The first step with any leaf is close observation. Identify its key features:

• Overall shape, tip, base, margin, and venation

• Surface qualities: shiny or dull, rough or smooth, hairy or flat

• Form: does it indent at the midrib, lie flat, or appear convex?

• Margin type: smooth, serrated, or lobed

Ask yourself these questions to understand the leaf before you begin.

DRAW

Create simple leaf portraits. Use measuring tools -dividers and a ruler - to plot proportions and vein positions accurately. Keep pencil lines light; heavy lines can interfere with later painting.

Constructing the measured drawing. I use a kneadable eraser to 'knock back' the lines prior to adding paint and draw with a H grade pencil first, being careful not to indent the paper.

IDENTIFY TONAL VALUES & LIGHT

Determine whether the leaf is light, mid, or dark in tone. Then study how light falls across the surface:

• Where are the highlights?

• Where are the shadows?

• How does the light reveal subtle contours and shapes?

• Which direction is the light from?

Good directional lighting will bring out the leaf’s three- dimensional form.

Sometimes I paint a tonal study with black or dark grey paint and also turn photographic images to black and white to emphasize light and dark areas.

Understand the tonal values and use directional lighting - here it is from the upper left hand side

COLOUR

Match the basic hue, but also consider:

• Underlying colours (theres often some pale blue in green leaves or violets in brown leaves)

• Shadow colours

• How tone interacts with colour

Leaves are rarely a single flat green, so carefully work out the colours beforehand.

Colours worked out in advance and a scribble sheet used to test colour and dryness of paint

The 'Green Char't' exercise from the course uses primary colours to mix greens. The exercise will help you to identify the green but also the blue needed to make the green mix.

PAINT

Apply colour using appropriate techniques, moving from wet to dry:

• Control water carefully -too much water causes dulling and diffusion as water sinks deep into the paper, also hard edges, 'cauliflowering' effects or colour spilling over the outline.

• Lightly dampening the paper first can help maintain control.

• As layers build, use less water and more precision.

• Dry brush in the final stages adds depth, texture, and realism - this is a slow stage that takes time

• Its not necessarily a linear process and you may need to move

Ivy on vellum - very little water is used in any stage and this is mostly dry brush work

PATIENCE & PRACTICE

This is the part of the process that is often often underestimated. You won’t paint leaves exactly as you hope at first. It takes practice-consistent, thoughtful practice. That’s why I introduced the Leaf Library page: it’s a starting point, not the end of the journey. Impatience is definitely the enemy when painting leaves; let areas dry properly when needed and consider your next stage of the process carefully - there are no shortcuts or magic tricks in leaf painting, it takes time and study to do it well. Don't be tempted to get to the end point too quickly.

Red Photinia leaf stages

My Journey with Leaf Painting

When I first began painting, I probably didn’t give leaves enough attention. They were often secondary to the focal point, and I felt they my paintings suffered for it - they lacked life and light. So. I began studying the leaves painted by artists I considered masters, such as Rory McEwen, Pandora Sellars and others. I quickly discovered how important light is.

Some years ago, I joined a “leaf painting challenge”: one leaf every day for 40 days. It was difficult, and some results were disappointing, but each day brought new learning - experimenting with colour layering, mixing, and refining technique. Most years, I still undertake further leaf studies to keep improving and to try different surfaces, not with a leaf every day but a month when I paint a couple of leaves each week.

Rumex leaf