Wisteria IN WATERCOLOUR

Finding variety in repeated forms is the key to creating interesting pictures. FABIO CEMBRANELLI shows you how to balance light and shade in this gorgeous French doorway

- FABIO CEMBRANELLI

Fabio's materials

•Paper

Arches Aquarelle 300gsm cold-pressed watercolour paper, 58x48cm

•Brushes

Synthetic round brushes, sizes 6, 10 and 16; synthetic flat brushes, size 1/2”, 3/4” and 1”; synthetic rigger brush, size 2; fan brush, size 4

•Paints

Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Rose Madder, Quinacridone Magenta, New Gamboge, Green Gold, Sap Green, Undersea Green, Manganese Blue Hue, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Ultramarine Violet and Shadow Violet, all Daniel Smith Extra Fine Water Colour

•Pencil

Derwent water soluble 2B sketching pencil

I visited Chédigny a couple of years ago, a small village known as “The City of Roses”. I love painting doors, balconies and windows with flowers, the play between light and shade attracts me so the wisteria subject was perfect for me. I took hundreds of photos and made a few sketches.

Wisteria is not an easy subject to paint in watercolour. If you suggest round shapes instead of drooping clusters, for example, it’s going to look like a climbing rose instead. Colour choice is important: the most well-known shades of wisteria are lavender, pink, violet and white but the pink is not so vibrant. Most of the time the flowers have a softer, pastel look. The leaf colour is also important – it’s not a dark green; it’s an intermediate shade, often with a yellow bias.

My approach to watercolour is intuitive and I like to paint loosely. I try to take the essence of the subject and interpret it so I don’t pay too much attention to the number of flowers in each cluster.