Doesn’t the title make you want to smile. Maybe it warms you on a cold winter morning. I am waiting for spring. The days have been cold and since I can’t have spring yet, I shall imagine it and paint it. I’m going to share how I mixed my colors and just go through a step-by-step process.

First up, mix your colors

I used my color swatch and doodle journal to inspire me. I wanted a soft warm orange.

And of course, these doodles were on my mind. I have this page as my background on my phone. I love the peach with the touch of blue. I wish I had painted these flowers on watercolor paper. I see a beautiful print and flowers for a pattern too. I am looking for nice inexpensive journals. If you have ideas let me know.

Here are a few notes on how I mixed these beautiful colors.

Peach: Cadmium Yellow + Quinacridone Magenta

Begin with yellow and add dots of the magenta. You can add white to get a lighter color

Pink: Quinacridone Magenta +Titanium White

Begin with white and mix in a little magenta at a time. Add a tiny amount of yellow. Try the opposite. Begin with magenta and add white.

I am not a pro at mixing color. I am an artist who is creative and likes to see what happens when I mix various colors. I always love when I mix a tiny amount of a contrasting color. See what happens when you mix a tiny amount of turquoise with your magenta.

Brushes

To paint my beautiful roses, I used an acrylic filbert brush for the bigger roses. Then I used a small flat brush for the small flowers. Oh, I did use my fingers to blend colors a little bit. These brushes do help me create beautiful roses. I want to purchase more. Figure out what brushes feel best in your hands and paint! I am planning to paint roses to explore brushes and practice my brushstrokes. I’ll post about that.

Paint your heart out

Have fun and paint your roses. Oh, I forgot to mention that I did what I never do. I had my phone open to Pinterest right beside me. I had opened my flower arrangement board and found a photo of flowers that made me smile inside. I loosely sketched my drawing and started painting.

I love where this is going! I could turn this into a pattern. For sure it’s going to be a print. I had leftover paint, and did I do a swatch for my book? No. I may have to get a separate book for that and mix colors for that project alone. Yes, I had leftover paint, but I had to paint a peach botanical. I love for the summer feels when I can paint effortlessly a free for hours!

For my leaves I am taking some of the leftover darker peach color and mixing that with blue to get a lovely green. Sometimes I add a drop of magenta. With all the orange in both paintings I want to add a pop of blue. Have you ever worked on two paintings at a time? For some reason I am enjoying this!

Thank you for reading. I have tons of art project ideas. Everything I share is always my fun and how I paint. If you have an idea or want to share your work comment below. I’d love to see it. There’s room for everyone.

With Love, Mireya