Cactus Gardens in Watercolor

 

As we continue to 'explore' the Old West, we realize that much of our time is spent in the Southwest desert! 

So... we made these lovely Cactus Gardens using Native American patterns to decorate our planter pots. 

First we observed and practiced drawing various cactus shapes.

On an 11" x 15" sheet of watercolor paper, we drew the pot first, then added the soil line and the smaller cactus in the front. Then we drew the larger cactus behind the first to create layers (front and back), and we added patterns to the pot. The next step was to outline everything with a black Sharpie.  

Now it was time to add color! We first used liquid watercolor to fill in the background. We dried it before painting our cactus and pot to prevent the paint from bleeding. 

We painted the cactus by first mixing a variety of greens, starting with the Kelly green in the pan and adding orange (to grey it up) or yellow or blue and varying amounts of water for transparency. 

We also painted any colorful flowers and the soil. 

Finally, we painted in our pot patterns. After they dried, we added additional details in ink. 

I think they're stunning!

For more, take a look at our original Cactus Gardens post.