Poppy Fields Near Ventabren

A Step-by-Step Watercolor Painting Demonstration

One Spring morning, while driving through the countryside in the south of France near Aix-en-Provence, we stumbled upon a beautiful patch of poppies growing amongst a field of bright yellow Colza plants, which are grown for their valuable oil. The Colza was clearly a cultivated crop, but the poppies appeared to have planted themselves in a beautiful design which led the eye toward the hills on the horizon. The effect was so compelling that we temporarily abandoned our plans to reach the quaint village of Ventabren and set to painting the scene, “tout-de-suite”. This demonstration is a studio enlargement of the study John painted on that beautiful morning.

Step One. For this painting demonstration I have selected a half sheet (15.5 x 20.5) of Arches 300 lb. Cold Press paper onto which I have drawn my composition lightly in pencil (HB). I also went the extra step of very faintly adding some watercolor tone to indicate the large masses so that these areas would show up better in these pho…