Flowers with William Ho - February 10th, 2024
Flowers come to mind as milder, brighter days appear even in winter. But how does one get life-like, vibrant flowers like these painted by William Ho?
Turning the whole hand along with the brush is important to get the right effect.
William Ho provided more guidance by outlining the steps to the five petals in this flower unique to China.
Curving the brush stroke inward to the centre of the flower is key.
Some brush strokes curve in from the right to left.
Other brush strokes curve in from the left to right.
The shape of each petal and the direction to create the petal were shown by William Ho's outline and arrows. There is also an order for creating the petals.
Artists tried their own flowers.
William Ho offered a hands on way of demonstrating how to turn an artist's hand to create the petal that they wanted.
The result was better petals.
When you feel the direction of the hand correctly then the petal of the flower appears naturally.
William Ho's technique resulted in better flowers.
Books brought by William Ho demonstrated his unique style.
William Ho contined the development of the flower.
Using a fine pointed brush, William Ho selected a darker red ink.
Veins were added to the petals. Veins like the petals were created from the outside towards the centre.
Next came a cluster of flowers.
The same hand movements that created the petals were used.
A fine pointed brush added details. A cluster of flowers should consist of variations in size.
The same approach of painting five petals is used but the variation in size of each flower creates a life-like effect.
The journey from learning one flower to creating clusters ended with many vibrant paintings.
We gathered for a class photo of this memorable flower workshop.
You can learn more about William Ho in the links section.