Tutorial - Colouring Hydrangeas

Colouring hydrangeas can seem like a daunting task, with all those tiny blossoms that make up a single flower stalk. If the thought of individually colouring each little petal has you breaking out in a cold sweat, then this might be the tutorial for you!

1. Start by choosing your colours. You'll need three colour groupings, each with an extremely dark marker (or pencil), a light marker and a medium marker. As you can see, I have three markers in the B (blue) series, three in the RV (red violet) series and three in the BV (blue violet) series.

2. Each flower head will be coloured with one of the three sets of markers. Start by colouring the gaps between each little flower with the darkest marker in the set, in my case, that's the RV99.

3. Use the lightest marker from the series (RV93) to colour around the edges of the flower head. This helps to mark out the boundaries so you know where you're working.

4. Use the same marker to dab in some random colour. Don't overthink this step, just plop down the colour within the boundary you created in step 3. There's no need to think about shading, shape, or the amount of colour... relax and just slap it on!

5. Now use one of the lightest markers from either of the other two colour series to fill in any white space left after step 4 (I used BV02). There's no need to be precise, the colours can touch and overlap.

6. Now we're going to add some shading at the base of each petal using the medium toned marker from the first series (RV95). Flick a few lines of colour out from the centre of each flower. For flowers that are folded or sideways, add the colour to the base and flick toward the tip. Again, there's no need to be overly precise, and you don't need to worry about the previous colours you added.

7. Blend the entire area with the lightest colour in the series (RV93). Don't pick out the individual flowers, simply colour over everything.

8. Move on to the next flower head and one of the other colour series. For me, that's the B (blue) group. Again, start with the darkest of the markers (B79) and fill in all the spaces between the flowers.

9. Define the borders with your lightest marker.

10. Use the same marker to dab in colour around the flower head.

11. Use the lightest marker from one of the other series to fill in the white spaces.

12. Add some shading to the base of the petals with the medium marker from the first series (B66).

13. Blend with the lightest marker.

14. Repeat the process for the final flower head...

15. Choose a series of greens for your leaves.

16. Choose the lightest, or next-to-lightest of the greens to add a little more colour in the centre of each flower (G24). Ignore any flowers that are sideways or closed.

17. To colour the leaves, add a layer of your lightest marker or pencil (G43).

18. Add the darkest green to the shadow areas of the leaf. This would be at the base of the leaf where it tucks into the flowers, under any turns, and where leaves overlap.

19. Use the middle colours to blend the darkest green.

20. Add a final layer of the lightest colour to blend all the other greens together.

21. Colour the vase as desired. I used cool greys, creating a spherical shape by concentrating the darker colours around the sides and bottom of the vase, and adding the highlight in the centre. I added gold pen to the foot of the vase for a little luxe.

22. Use a light grey (C2) to add a shadow onto the vase. Follow the shape of the leaves, stretching the shadow a little more as it curves around the side of the vase.

23. Darken the shadow with C3. Don't cover the entire shadow, as you want it to blend rather than create a super sharp line. Keep the darker grey close to the leaves.

24. Add a thin line of a darker shade (C4) right up against the edge of the leaves. If you find the shadow is a little too stark, blend it out with the C2.

25. Using some pencil is purely optional, but it will give you some additional detail. Flick some fine, white lines out from the centre of each little blossom. Use black pencil to deepen the shadows between the leaves and the flowers at the bottom of the arrangement. 

Done!

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