Welcome to the Joy of Painting Eucalypts. Good on you for trying something new!

This 2 hour lesson is a replay of the Live online workshop in honour of National Eucalypt Day and has been captured for you to replay and paint along with here.

Next Steps

Now that you have logged in to Podia bookmark it so you can find the Workshop easily.

Next  join the facebook group the Joy of Painting Eucalypts.   This way you can ask questions, share your work and meet others who love this space.   

The Workshop/Preparation - We will be painting Eucalyptus Rhodantha - or Rose Mallee.      We are learning a bit about how the impressionists used colour and will paint the underpainting in complementary colours (opposite) so this is going to test your brain - in a good way.                       

Ready to Paint - Materials

Paint - primary colours in acrylic - blue, a warm and cool red, a warm and cool yellow and white.  I will be using:  

• Cadmium Yellow Medium

• Cadmium Yellow Light 

• Cadmium Red  

• Quinacridone Violet          

• Ultramarine Blue  

• Titanium White 

You could use Phthalo blue too if you have it (it makes a great teal, but it is not necessary.  

You don’t have to have exactly what I use - your painting can just as happily use the colours you have.  If you want to really get into mixing colours have a look at my short free lessons ‘Create the Colours You See’ and ‘Colour Intensity’.

Paper - I will be using A3 (29.7 x 42cm) 300 gsm watercolour paper - because that is what I have to hand.  You can use any size you have.  We will do one exercise on scrap paper or in your painting journal and then use the A3 size.

Brushes - think one big, one small, one in between - one thumb width one little finger and one fatter than thumb. Square flat brushes work well for this exercise.  A fat brush helps to cover the background quickly on the A3 sheet, but smaller paper means smaller brush is fine.  Again use what you have or can get easily.

Reference Photo - you’ll find the photo here that I took at the Melton Botanic Gardens.  We are just using the main big gumnut for this exercise.  You will find a reference photo, a reference with a grid (some people like to use a grid to help them draw accurately) and a sample animated sketch (so you can see what I mean by 'just the gumnut'). Draw the big gum nut on your paper or canvas.  Just press very lightly if you are using pencil on paper so you don’t make an indent.

Tools - Pencil, water cup, spray bottle, mop up cloth or paper.  If you want to stay with me in the workshop you might want the impatient artists friend - hairdryer.

This is a great chance to connect with nature, yourself and share some creative time.  I want to spread the joy of painting from nature with as many as we can so please share the workshop link with friends and family. It is a great idea to invite a friend to do the workshop with you if you can.

Here is the link to share:  https://celiamoriarty.podia.com/the-joy-of-painting-eucalypt