When I paint or teach any flower, I break down that flower into sections, so that my students will be able to:
1.) Understand the physical makeup of the flower: i.e.shape of petals, stems and leaves
2.) So that they will have a better understanding of shadows and lights on the petals and leaves
3.) To discourage tracing

Brushes: I use a scroller #1 and a square shader #20.

1. Sketch iris using a scroller and the lightest value of the flower. When I paint a purple iris, I sketch the flower with Sevres Blue.
2. To begin the sketching, picture a cross and start at the middle of the cross. (1)
- Sketch in the bottom Fall. Try to avoid making the petal too rounded. (2)
- Sketch in the Beard on the bottom Fall. (3) Sketch with Albert or Mixing Yellow.
- Sketch in the top three Standards. (4)
- Sketch in the two side Falls. (5 )
- Sketch in the Spathe and the Stem. (6) I use Tan or Yellow Brown to sketch the Spathe, and yellow green or Chartreuse to sketch in the stem.
- Sketch in the Style Crests. (7) I sketch this in with a very light Yellow.
- Sketch in the Stigma. (8) I sketch this in with Albert or Mixing Yellow.
Remember when sketching the Iris to keep the top Standards and the bottom Falls fairly equal in size.

To begin painting the Iris, look at your sketch, and paint only in the shadow areas on the flower. All under petals will have shadows falling on them, and the petals on top will be very light. Always keep in mind no matter what you are painting Light against Dark.

• Paint in all shadow areas on the petals.
• Paint in any shadow areas that are caused by folds or turnbacks.
• Paint in shadow area under the beard.
• On the Standards, there is a rib running up the back of the petals I also paint some shadow along both sides of this rib.
• Leave lots of highlights on the petals, it is easier to put paint on later, but not so easy to take it off.

Painting the Style Crest and Stamen:
- Paint the Style Crest in with a very light yellow.
- Paint the Stigma in with Mixing or Albert Yellow.

Painting in the Stem & Spathe:
- I paint the Spathe in Tan and a touch of Lavender.
- I keep this very light, as I want it to appear very lightweight, like crumpled tissue paper.
- I paint the Stem in with Yellow Green or Chartreuse, make sure the stem is thick enough so that it will look like it will support the bloom.
Soften the hard edges from your sketch lines.

Sketching and Painting Iris Leaves:
Because Iris leaves are rather flat and dull, I paint all the leaves yellow green or chartreuse on the first fire. This then becomes the highlights for the leaves on subsequent firings.
At this point I check my Iris to make sure I have Light Against Dark. Any petals or leaves that are on top of a dark area I go back with my wipeout tool and just recut them and then soften, so they definitely appear to be on top. i.e. petals on leaves, leaves on top of leaves, etc.
I like to fire very hot, so for my first fire, I use 010 cone. (note from Marci: It is NOT necessary to fire this hot)

On this painting, I darken all shadow areas on the petals, darken the leaves and stem and also add any additional leaves and buds.
I add some depth to the Centre where the shadow would be and I also add some depth to one side of the Beard. For this I use Yellow Brown #2 or Tan.
Again I am very careful to watch for Light against Dark.
To darken the Iris on this fire I use Lavender and again, I concentrate mainly on the shadow areas.
For the Leaves on this fire I darken them with Warm Brown Green
For my second fire I use a cone 012.

To begin this painting, I wash the flower petals with a very light blue. For this step I use Sevres Blue, but apply it very lightly. If you are not comfortable painting wet-on-wet, then the piece could be fired again at this point.
I darken any shadows that might need more depth. I use Imperial Purple or Blue Violet. I use either of these colours sparingly, because I like to leave lots of highlights on the petals.
For the leaves I use Finishing or Hair Brown on the tips, and I also use Warm Brown Green mixed with some of the Iris colour to darken the shadow areas on the leaves.
For my Third Fire, I fire to cone 014.