Apply in dry conditions, above 5 degrees Celsius and when bad weather is not forecast, minimum of 2 coats required. The final colour will vary depending on the surface and number of coats. If adhesion is inadequate on previous coatings, lightly sand before application. Make sure wood has been pre treated with appropriate wood preserver to prevent wood and decay. In the catalogue of the 1979 Hayward Annual exhibition (op.cit.,p.66) Durrant discussed her approach and working methods:

Having put down the initial green on the stem and calyx, I work into it, adding the flush of purple. I try to keep my colours fresh and light, and don’t erase the pencil in these sketchbook studies, which gives me a little more freedom with the paint as it doens’t have to delineate any edges. I paint my pictures with the canvas stretched flat on the floor, viewing them from the top of my steps, and I see the painting frontally/head on, only when it feels whole or I cannot choose what to do. I suppose (as I have not changed this procedure for several years) I enjoy the surprise I get when the picture goes up and then I feel either relieved or disappointed. I often experience difficulty in making choices within the painting-what the painting needs as opposed to what I put in the painting ... I work on several canvases at a time ... and I view them as a group although I feel each painting is separate and complete itself. The sensation of place in painting is very important to me... How much you are enveloped, or brought in, or feel up against the painted surface ... I am aware of ways in which I use my experience of the visible world as starting-points for my painting. A starting-point can be my wish to create a visual equivalent for a particular experience in purely painterly terms within a tradition of painting-and in so doing, discover (for) myself. Lit: Judy Marle, ‘Jennifer Durrant, Recent Paintings’, Arnolfini Review, March–April 1979, p.2; Alister Warman, catalogue introduction for 13 Britische Künstler, eine Ausstellung über Malerei, Neue Galerie-Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen, December 1981–February 1982, and tour [p.10]

How will the colour really look in your home?

Stir thoroughly before pouring contents into a Cuprinol sprayer. Overspraying surrounding areas can be minimized by avoiding spraying in windy conditions and by using cardboard or plastic as a shield. Any overspray should be cleaned up immediately (whilst still wet) with water and household detergent.

Test a small area first for colour and adhesion: Colour the final colour will depend upon the type of surface, previous treatment and number of coats applied. If using more than one can it is advisable to mix them together in a container or finish in a corner before starting a new can. Adhesion: if adhesion is inadequate on previously coated surfaces, lightly sand before application. Using a pencil, and drawing direct onto your watercolour paper, draw the flower. I like to use the Pentel P205 mechanical pencil, and my current favourite hot press watercolour paper is Global Arts Fluid 100.

This is my trusty paintbox (what a mess) with me mixing up some purple to go into the green on the stem. I favour Winsor & Newton paints, and much prefer using Winsor & Newton series 7 brushes to any other sort. I simply loved painting these tendrils, the way they knot and twist is fascinating. A simple green line either side then a very pale top wash suffices. Here I’m adding some darker areas; the green mixed with prussian blue and purple. Painting the Sweet pea petals I use Winsor & Newton watercolours, and work quite dry. This mix is Opera rose with a touch of Cobalt blue. I always use a Winsor & Newton series 7 paintbrush, normally a number 1.

Below is a real-time video of me painting this everlasting sweet pea. It’s a very long film, over an hour, but I discuss every process in detail as I go along. I used Opera pink and a touch of the purple used for the flower veins. Go slowly and make sure you don’t take everything too dark too swiftly. Doctor Martins PH Hydrous inks come in a lovely array of jewel-like colours, and I often add a tiny drop of these vivid hues to my watercolour washes. In this case it’s the turn of Quinacridone Magenta. Step 6: Add darks and shadows As Garden Shades often goes on directly to the wood, without a primer, sometimes it will soak deep into the wood and this can create the need for a third coat. This may be noticeable with rougher woods, open end grains or indeed deep colours. If wood has been exposed and dried out for a long period of time, this may also draw the more of the product away from the surface and into the wood structure.

You’re going to be putting a layer of pale pink on the flower next. Mix up a very pale tint of pink, and be sure you make it paler with clean water rather than with white paint. Exh: Jennifer Durrant, Recent Paintings, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, March–April 1979 (no catalogue, listed on duplicated sheet); Hayward Annual 1979, Hayward Gallery, July–August 1979 (9, repr.) Sweet peas are beautiful flowers, and a joy to paint. This blog is a step by step guide to painting the Two-flowered Everlasting Sweet Pea Lathyrus grandiflorus. About Sweet peas

The artist made no finished preliminary sketches before starting on T03305 and T03306 but experimented with small coloured arrangements on paper. For the paintings, she employed a variety of techniques; some areas were freely painted (for example the blue central shape in ‘Other Cloud...’), whereas for the “tear” or drop shapes and for the spiral in ‘Sweet Pea...’, paper stencils were used. Each painting was built up in layers on unprimed cotton canvas and in some areas the artist applied a mixture of metallic powder and acrylic solution. As you can tell, it’s the twirly tendrils on this sweet pea that I particularly loved drawing. Adding a second flower head, looking at venation in more detail Once your botanical illustration has dried, work into the inner petals a bit more. Add some detail, and balance the different parts of the flower by adding pinks to this central zone. Mix up an ever paler and wetter tint of pink. Apply this wash across almost the entire flower (including the parts which got the first layer of colour). Leave the palest areas as white paper, right next to the stem of the flower. Now do the same for the veins in the central winged area of the flower too. The colour mix here is the same as before, but with some purple added.Use your paint pretty dry, and build up layers of tiny brush marks. These should echo the areas of light and dark on the flower. Be sure to follow the line of growth, and adding some extra paint marks at the outside edge is a wise move. Your eye likes to feel anchored at the edge of a petal. Mixing up the wash to go on the sweet pea. This is a similar mix to before, but with much more water and no brown. I also wanted to look at one of the pink sweetpeas, but decided this would be a study of the venation within the petals; a line drawing in watercolour, if you will. This helps if asked to draw a sweet pea again; once the purple ones are complete, some of the detail will be swallowed up in the dark colours. Getting going on the colour: Painting the stem Mix a darker pink for the central petals. I used purple lake, Alizarin crimson and opera rose; but be informed by the colour of your own specimen. Before leaving London, Durrant had become increasingly dissatisfied with the direction her work was taking; she had produced no large scale paintings for some time and her output was mostly confined to small drawings. In retrospect, she sees the Canadian trip (which she has compared in its liberating effect on her subsequent work to her first visit to the United States in 1972) as a major turning point, and has attributed the bolder and more confident looking paintings she started on her return to the general sense of exhilaration and optimism the trip had given her.