Begin by drawing a border using a ruler and a pencil. In this case a 2cm border. This is the only time I use a ruler. All other hatched lines are done freehand as I prefer the natural appearance which can resemble linen.

Next, outline the drawing in pencil, being careful to make a pleasing and balanced composition.

At this stage start thinking about where the colours might go.

You may select some leaves or flowers to be in colour whilst leaving others in black and white, such as in Fruits of Autumn shown above.

In this case, work on the cyclamen leaves first, as these will be the most complex part of the picture, using watercolour.

Be sure to reserve areas of white here and there in order to rest the eye and ensure the leaves will stand out against the background.

I don’t usually ink over the drawing until all the colour is in place, but on this occasion, I couldn’t resist inking over some of the pencil lines in order to get an idea how it would look.

Next complete all the coloured areas.

For this painting I used a transparent acrylic ink for the beech leaves as it was the perfect colour and great for mimicking the ageing texture of last year’s leaves.

Occasionally I add salt at this stage to create texture, as on the birch leaves, seen above in Autumn Birches.

Once the ink or paint is dry, leave the picture overnight under a heavy pile of books.

Now for the fun part!

Having completed all the colour, spend some happy hours drawing over all the pencil lines with ink.

In this case, I used fineliner pens but, had I wanted more broken or random lines, I could have chosen to use dip pens or reed pens.

Fude pens are wonderful for lines which change from thin to fat, but that was not what I was looking for here.

Once all the lines are drawn in, look for areas where you might use other techniques such as stippling, broken lines or repeat patterns such as tiny figure eights or random swirls.

Sometimes I use tiny circles, repeat tile shapes or parallel lines. Several different techniques can be seen in Forest Floor Treasures, above.

Next use an eraser to remove any pencil showing through and then begin hatching, firstly with vertical lines and then horizontal ones.

Clearly there may be pictures where a more random hatched back ground is preferable, such as in Fruits of Autumn above.

Sometimes I hatch over areas again and again if I want to have a very dark background. Occasionally I create a vignette effect by carefully washing over the corners with thin ink, as shown in Japanese Ginkgo and Acer Leaves, above.

Continue hatching until all areas are complete.

For the Winter Redwings picture, above, and for these cyclamen, I decided to have darker hatching at the bottom and less hatching towards the top.

This is achieved this by cross hatching vertically, horizontally, diagonally left to right and diagonally right to left in the lower areas. Then, as you move up the picture, cross hatched in only two directions and then in only one direction at the very top.

Finally, go over the pen lines once more and add some white gouache to the tips of the cyclamen petals.

The finished painting

Cyclamen Under the Hedge

About Julie

More of my work can be found in my Painters Online gallery or in my joint Instagram site: BluStorkStudio1.

I am available to teach large or small art groups in the East Midlands area and can be contacted on Instagram.

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