I’m going to give you the secret to painting ANY loose flower. Loose flowers are quick, easy, & fun. They’re essentially YOUR interpretation of the flower & they’re not supposed to look real. The technique shown in the video can be applied when painting any flower, but we’ll be focusing on loose watercolor peonies. Okay, so the secret to painting any loose flower is to compartmentalize the flower in your head, meaning to break it up into sections or shapes.
Look at the flower & try find shapes that you can paint. I recommend drawing on the flower first. Take a picture of the flower you want to paint then open it in a drawing app like “mark up”. Draw simple shapes on the flower while keeping its shape. Simplify the shapes & also keep them to a minimum. [If the flower has 50 petals merge some of them together & draw maybe 10]. Once your satisfied, try to paint it. As you practice doing this you’ll get better at it… And, perhaps you’ll be able to do it in your head.
NOTE: I STILL use this technique with some of the harder flowers & it’s nothing to be ashamed of!!! When painting peonies, I find it easiest to start with the bottom-middle petals first then work my way up, around, & down.