Sunny Strokes: Painting Sunflowers in Watercolor for Beginners

1. Introduction to Sunflower Watercolors: Hi, friends. Are you ready for a watercolor sunflower class? I'm Jenny K, also known as Living Pattern, a watercolor artist soaking up the sunshine in South Florida. I'm a painter and a teacher, and I'm thrilled to share my passion for floral watercolors with you today. This class is all about bringing the cheerful essence of sunflowers to life with watercolors. We are going to play with some really fun techniques that will become part of your creative arsenal and maybe even get you hooked on painting these sunny blooms. We'll start with a simple sketch using basic shapes. Then you'll see a quick demonstration of essential techniques. Blending together those sunny yellows, creating texture for the seed center, and bringing your sunflower to life with layered brushstrokes? We'll wrap up by adding those final touches that make your sunflower uniquely yours. By the end of our time together, you'll have created your very own sunflower painting, and gain skills you can apply to many other watercolor flowers. Remember, this glass is all about having fun and giving yourself permission to explore. Whether you're a total beginner or looking to add a new flower to your botanical painting collection, you're gonna love this one. Are you ready to paint a watercolor sunflower with me? Then let's begin. 2. Sketching and Preparing Your Sunflower: Let's begin with a simple sketch of our sunflower. Don't worry if you're not confident in your drawing skills, we're going to keep this super easy. Okay, here's my drawing. I've got a graphite pencil in my watercolor paper. I've actually got my drawing underneath this vellum. This is my sketch on the watercolor paper, but we're using the vellum for the sake of you being able to see me sketch with the marker. We've got our marker and we're ready to go. I'm going to start in the center of the sunflower. Then I'm going to be working my way out from the center. Just give yourself an outer line for the circle of the Sunflowers disc head. Keep it a little bit loose. You can go solid if you'd like, but I like to keep it a little bit looser of a drawing because it allows for more expressive lines. Now I'm going to be adding a little center part where all the highlights go. Keep on adding a small circle in the middle of the sunflower disc head. Now I'm going to start adding the petals. It doesn't matter where you begin around the sunflower, pick a starting point and create one petal at a time. Keep the tips a little bit pointed. If you look at the sunflower, you'll see that they're a little bit pointy and that really is a characteristic of a sunflower. Not too rounded, not too bubbled, or it might start to look like a daisy or another type of flower. I'm just going around in circles, drawing petal by petal. I might start to go on the other side of the sunflower like so. That way, I can give my drawing just a little more movement. Just one sunflower petal at a time, defining where each of your brush strokes is going to go. This drawing doesn't need to be perfect. Sunflowers are not perfect in nature, either, so keep the petals a little bit busier in some areas and then a little bit more open in others. Don't forget the little petals that are in the back. Just pop one in every now and then. Again, I'm using this marker just so you guys can see me sketch, but you're going to be using your graphite on the actual watercolor paper. I usually use an HB or two B. No H pencils because those are such hard lines to remove from the watercolor paper. I'm not sure if you saw the class resources, but you do not have to start your own sketch from scratch. You can take mine if you'd like a jumping off point. You can modify my sketch a little bit and make it to your own whatever you'd like to do. I just wanted to provide this sketch in the class resources, so feel free to download it and use it. Now, I'm just adding in my last few petals. So prominent forward facing petals and some little background facing petals. The key petal takeaways here are keep them the same size and make them all just a little bit different, just like us. Everybody's just a little bit different. And look, they look so nice together. Now I'm just going into the stem. Let's make lines from the top of the sunflower head all the way down to the bottom of the paper. The sunflower stem needs to be chunky and thick. That's another characteristic of the sunflower that you'll definitely want to get right. Just keep it thick. I'm going to start putting the leaves in the sunflower. They're kind of heart shaped and wavy. They've got those really distinct veins. So I'm picking up on some of those for the drawing. I might catch a few of the lines I add into the veins in the in my watercolor. I'm not going to focus on making them absolutely perfect. But I do want to pick up on just a few of them. Now, just place your marks evenly. And this is my last and final leaf.'s the biggest one. Keep that little edge wavy for some movement. And see, just work kind of quick. Almost like you're just dedicated to moving the pencil and just go with it. And now I'm going to remove this vellum and marker piece of paper off of my sketch. So this is the original sketch. This is what you guys have in front of you with the graphite. What I'm going to do now is lift some of the graphite off because I personally don't want the graphite showing up in my final painting. So I'm going to take my needed eraser and lightly remove about I'd say up to 70% of my drawing. I know that sounds crazy, but you just want to barely be able to see your lines. And that's why people always ask me if I free hand my art, and they ask me where the sketches below. I've gotten really good at doing such a light sketch that no one ever can believe that I had pencil there to begin with. This removes most of it at the very end of the painting when it's completely cured. You can go back in with a white eraser and erase even more of the lines, but I'm just going to get rid of as much of it now that I can without losing the lines totally. So just keep working your eraser, make it tackier by stretching it apart. You can pick these guys up at your local art store. They sell them at Michael's. Check my list for all the supplies as well. But this is really a studio staple. So just keep erasing until all the lines are about 25 to 30% showing. And the needed eraser is great because it's sticky and it pulls up the graphite so well, and it doesn't rip up the paper. Some erasers will rip your watercolor paper up. You watercolor paper is made of cotton, so it is a bit fragile. Just want to be careful with that. And I'm getting close to being done. Just going to hit a few spots that I think are still a little bit dark, but as you can see, it's almost completely gone. Just a little bit more. Just going to kind of go all around to remove some of the little darker spots. When you do this sketch, you definitely want to not press too hard because exactly for this reason, it'll be kind of difficult to get the sketch off where you pushed in very hard. That's about it. I can barely see my sketch. I know it's hard to see it in the video, but it is about 25 to 30% remaining. Don't worry if it's not perfect. The beauty of watercolor is that it allows for loose expressive strokes. The sketch is just a suggested guide to follow for more ease. Now that we have our sketch, let's move on to the exciting part, adding color. 3. Painting the Center: First Layer: Now, let's bring our sunflower to life by painting its center. First, we're going to mix a light brown wash. I'm using Mission Magella watercolors. You can use whatever water colors you have. I'm using the burnt sienna color. So I put a little bit of the dark pigment in my palette, and now I'm just mixing down a very light wash. Just for the center, we're doing three layers for the center here. So the first layer is just going to be very pale. So mix mix mix until you have no globs in your paint wells, and you've got just a perfect light wash. So there's my swatch card right on the left. I keep those around just to make sure I'm getting exactly the color I need. And I test out all my marks on my scrap papers before I go to my painting. So I'm just about there, and I'm going to start filling in. So I'm going to fill in slowly, just the center of my sunflower head. O h, yeah, that's perfect. So I'm going to start to add just a little bit more pigment. This is very watered down. I want to keep this very light. And if you've used water colors before, you know that they dry even lighter than what you see. So I'm keeping it very light. See how I just added a little bit of water right there. That's going to start to sift down and give it a little bit of texture. So I'm keeping the center of the sunflower very pale. And then the outside edges just have a little bit more pigment. I'm going to round those edges out, keep it a little bit natural, not such a perfect circle. Remember, sunflower centers aren't just plain brown. They have warm golden undertones, and that is the reason I chose Burnt Sienna. It just has that gorgeous glowing undertone. So you see how rich and warm the color is. It's perfect for capturing that sunlit glow of a sunflower center. Now, we're just going to keep on moving around in that circle. You know, I'm going to add a little bit of touches of water just like that. Just till I start to see some texture take shape. I'm using a dry brush technique here where I'm pulling off some pigment, and then I'm putting it on my rag. So it's very much playing in puddles. Watercolor is all about playing in puddles, removing pigment, adding pigment, So you see how the color is spreading and blending on the wet paper. This creates a soft natural looking base for the sunflower center. I'm leaving some areas a bit lighter, and this just adds to the variation and the depth of the sunflower. Don't worry about being too precise. The random pattern will look a lot more natural. And remember, if it dries too light, we can always add more layers later. I also want to point out that the sunflowers that are sitting on my desk have a lot darker of centers. The reason I chose to bring mine a little bit lighter than the actual sunflowers is because I wanted a more airy and open feel, and I also wanted to connect the white paper with my painting a little bit more than going just totally dark and black. Also, if you hold a sunflower out in the sun in the light, you'll notice that it has a lot more high lighting, and there's more variation in the seeds. Oh, we're getting so close to being finished with our sunflower center. I'm just going to continue to add just a few hints of dark. But remember, this is our first layer. So I still have two more layers until the sunflower center is perfect. The reason I'm spending so much time on the center is because it is the most important part of the flower. So just a little dab, dab dab. There are some dark dark. So I just worked from light all the way up to dark, and this is going to dry a lot lighter. Just keep that in mind. But I have also left that little circle ring of white, and that's just going to be a perfect sunlight high light when this is complete. There you go. A beautifully textured sunflower center. Next, we're going to move on to painting those cheerful yellow petals. 4. Bringing Petals to Life: First Layer: First, we're going to mix up our petal colors. For this, I'm going to use two of my favorite yellows, Alain and permanent yellow deep. Now I'm going to start loading these two colors into my palette. You can use the same palette that you have the burnt sienna in because we're going to actually be mixing them all together at some parts. Now, I'm just adding a little bit of the urolin in a well that's one step over from the permanent yellow deep, about a quarter of a teaspoon again. And make sure that you put those lids on tight. They really can dry out if you don't. So grab half of the yellow deep, the permanent yellow deep. Then grab half of the lain and mix those two together. What that's going to do is give you a nice tone right in between those two colors so that you have a dark, permanent yellow, deep tone, a light lain tone, and then a tone that's right in the middle. It just makes for a harmonious palette. Now, stir that up really, really good, get all the globs out, and you want it in the consistency of milk, right? And I'm going to add just a little bit more water where I think I see fit. I want all my palettes to have either a milk or tea consistency. And I'm going to check that out. Oh, gosh, look perfect yellow for the sunflower. I like these two colors mixed together. And it's interesting because some colors out of the tube are just perfect. And some you have to kind of mix down a little. But this one just came out to be the perfect sunflower tone. So I'm happy with them out of the tube here. I'm just going to kind of mix a few of these olin colors, so you can see. I've got a nice range of the permanent yellow deep all the way to the cheery, sunny elin color, and I've also got a little pot in the middle. That is the burnt sienna mixed with the combination of the two yellows. So that's just going to give me a little flow from the center of the sunflower out to the petals. So that's going to bring it all together. Using all these yellows at once makes the colors feel more natural. Perfect for capturing the glow of the sunflower petals. I basically want to feel like the sun is shining through all of the petals on the paper. Just testing a couple more yellows out, but that's pretty much it. And now we are onto painting the petals. So I'm going to start with the petals closest to the center. I'm going to grab a little bit of that pale yellow. I'm going from the center out, and I'm using the side of my brush to create a wide stroke, and I'm going to taper it as I move outward. This mimics the natural shape of a sunflower petal. Remember, sunflower petals aren't perfectly uniform. Some might be a little bit longer, some might be shorter, some might be curvier. These little variations will make your sunflower look more natural and lively. Now, you see that I'm kind of skipping petals, right? And I can still see the graphite lines on my paper as I'm working. I know it's hard to see this in the video, but my graphite lines are still there, so I have a guide. I'm just going to fill all of the pale yellow petals first. And I'm going to let these dry in the end, and you're going to see that it's going to create lines. So I'm grabbing a little bit of permanent yellow deep, pulling it out to the edge, kind of blending the two together. I'm using the vertical hold once I get to the very tip of the petal. So it creates a nice point. I don't want my points to be too too perfect. I want all of them to be different. So you'll see me kind of switch my brush. You can pull off as you paint in circles with the petals. And I'm also adding in a little tiny bit of that burnt sienna wash that I created in the middle. You're even going to see me pull some of the dark barncena wash from the other palette too. Just Remember to kind of get in your Zen zone when you're doing this. Don't overthink it. You can always lift up if it's still wet. You can do the pull off dry brush that I showed you. And don't overload your brush either. You don't want it so sopping wet that you're worried it's going to come off or it's going to be too puddling. You just want it just filled up. And once you use watercolors more and more, you kind of understand the pigment and water control. It's just practice makes perfect. So we're just going to continue to go around in a circle. And I'm adding one petal at a time. I'm going to leave some gaps so that some of my petals can overlap once they're dry. And that's the beauty of layering. It's going to make it look like it's, you know, if you're holding the sunflower up in the sun, you can see the overlaps of the petals, and that's what I want to achieve today. So now you can see how the petals are taking shape. Don't worry if you can still see some of your pencil lines. We can always build up more layers to add color, and those lines are going to disappear. You'll barely be able to see them. I also have that white eraser at the very end that I can go back around my cured painting and remove any pencil lines. Some people actually accentuate the pencil lines, so that's fine, too, if you want to leave your sketch totally showing. This is just my technique of working, and Feel free to explore. It's fun to explore, and this video is instructional, and I'm showing you exactly my techniques. But in the end, you're going to start to experiment, and you're going to do your own thing, and cool things are going to happen, and you're going to be very excited about what you created. But copying is really a great place to start. So try to copy exactly what I'm showing you in this video. It's really good to use my sketch. So yeah, I think you're going to love your sunflower painting at the end of this. I'm just going to keep on going around in a circle. And I'm going to keep all the petals just about the same size, adding one petal at a time. I might drop in water here and there or dry brush out some lines to keep it feeling a little bit more modern and expressive, or I might add pigment in places that got a little too light. It's really up to you in the end to decide what feels best. Just go with your gut. I'm adding in a little bit of that burnt sienna wash. And if you notice, I give my brush a little bit of a, like, flick, but it's still on the paper, and it's still in the painting. What that does is it makes for a little line. And you'll notice in some of them that that line is starting to show up. So if I had a tiny amount of permanent yellow deep or burnt sienna on my brush, it's going to just run through the painting where I lay it. So try out those little flick placements of the darker colors like that. So we're getting closer, but I'm still working in a circle. It's so exciting at this point where you're really starting to see your painting come together. I know in the beginning when you see that blank white sheet of paper, it can feel a bit daunting and you're just hoping that it comes out good. But this is the point where it's starting to come together and you can get really excited about what you created. I'm just going to keep on going through. Very meticulously, I'm painting this slowly. It's not my more expressive, quick painting. It's a slow living kind of a day, and this project reflects that. Just one little petal at a time, building up slowly. I cannot wait for you guys to see the finished painting. I do want to mention that a lot of these colors are mixed differently with the water. The pale yellow, the lain is about a t consistency, and then the permanent yellow deep, and then the darker colors we mixed are a little bit thicker at a milk consistency. So we are just about finished adding our first layer of sunflower petals. Now, I'm going to let this layer completely dry. I mean, all the way, don't let any of it be damp because what's going to happen is our second wash is going to go on top, and you're going to see some lines, and it's going to be those distinct sunflower petals. Next, we'll add those tiny little details that really bring our sunflower to life. 5. Enhancing Petals: Second Layer: Okay, now we're here. It is time for our second row of sunflower petals. This is when it starts to come together, get very excited. This yellow is so beautiful. I'm using my permanent yellow deep, and I'm just going in and I'm filling in the second layer of petals. So I'm going to probably go every other one and then skip, and I'm going to go back into the previous petals with water or something lighter. So I can achieve a little bit of the overlap effect, but just keep it soft, so it's not so strong. I'm going to add water every now and then and pull off pigment, and then I'm going to grab other colors and load them in. I'm going to keep my tips very light in some places. And I'm also going to add in a little bit of that burnt sienna so we can get the wash from the center to flow into the petals. It'll just keep it harmonious. Also, I just want to remind everyone again, I am still using my graphite lines as my guide. I am not free hand painting right now. I know it's so hard to see the graphite lines in the video, but know that they are there. I just erased them down so much that when I'm done with the final painting, I don't see a bunch of graphite lines. I'm going to keep on adding petal by petal, I might start to work into the other petals that are completely dried. Little by little. I'm mixing the permanent yellow deep with the lin, and I'm also grabbing some of that burnt sienna wash in the middle to give some depth and also to flow from the center to the leaves. Just keep working in a circle. We're working very slow. This is your Zen zone. Just enjoy it. Enjoy going back into the petals and working them again. Sometimes you just need to grab a little bit of water to blend it all. So you can see that I'm starting to get some of those beautiful overlaps that aren't strong, but they're there. I'm just grabbing some of the burnt sienna so I can pull it down from the center of the sunflower down through the petals, that'll help blend. And I'm just adding and subtracting. That is all water color is, especially when you're working in layers. You're just adding and subtracting, and you can use your water, you know, to kind of move the pigment around as you wish, and you can also lift off with your brush and then put it on your rag. Yeah, this is really just having fun, following a guide. We've only used three colors so far throughout this whole thing. Keep working in a circle, just to build up all the layers of color and make sure you keep all of the petals the same length, follow your sketch guide. Little by little. You'll start to build it all up. Painting these sunflowers is making me feel very happy and cheery, and I'm reminded of all of the times in my life that I've either received sunflowers or come in contact with sunflowers, and they're just such a special flower to a lot of us. I think it would be really incredible if you made one of these as a gift for someone. Feel free to take my drawing, do your painting, and hand it to someone else because that is your creation. I just got you started with the drawing, but really, this is your painting. I also love that sunflowers can symbolize many different things like positivity and strength, joy, and optimism, resilience, I see a lot of hope and warmth in them. And we actually have them locally all the time. So I love picking them up in the grocery store. And that's why I have these lovely sunflowers to paint with here today. I love having that live reference on the table. It just gets you so inspired. So definitely try to have the live reference if you can. If not, just make sure you print out full color photographs and have those at your desk to work from, too. Sunflower petals aren't perfectly uniform, and some might be a little bit longer, some shorter. So keep that in mind as you're painting these in a circle. They can all be a little different if you go outside of the graphite lines. That's okay, too. It's going to keep it looking a little bit more real and natural. So I'm still just tweaking all of my petals. And some areas are drying. I'm going back in while they're still wet, almost totally dry, and I'm pulling off pigment. So it gives some highlights. You can also dabble a little water in. You can dabble some of this burnt sienna in for lines. You'll see it starting with the depth that I love that. I love when it really starts to come together like this. Just keep moving the pigment around. There I'm adding a little bit more yellow. See those quick lines. They will show up too. Quick little lines. Let them dry a little, and then once they're almost completely dry, go back in with your dry bush and lift some of that pigment out just like that. And now you can see how the petals are starting to take shape. Don't worry if you see the pencil lines underneath, they are going to fade away over time. And whatever is remaining on the outsides, like I said, you can go back with your white Stler eraser. I love the white Stler erasers. So yeah, just take your time, keep going around in a circle. And you'll notice my tips are not rounded. They're very pointed, that is trademark of a sunflower. A lot of these trademark things and plants, just be aware of them. I like to joke and say, Oh, I am the sunflower because I just really study them. Sometimes I'll pull the petals off, but just become the plant. And then when you're painting, you'll understand the form and the growth and the color and the way it all shifts. But nature so beautiful to paint. I love these cheery yellow, beautiful sunflowers. We are still continuing in a circle. We're just perfecting all the little sunflower petals. I'm using my pale areolin, all the way to my permanent yellow deep, and I'm still grabbing just a hint of burnt sienna here and there to connect the center to the petals. And I love these soft overlaps that I'm getting. So now I'm laying in the burnt sienna darker and darker. If you notice, I'll start laying it in light, and then as I move around, I'm going to keep on adding it in darker and darker, and I'm just building that up. Because watercolor is all about depositing the pigments, removing the pigment, adding the pigment. It's a dance in pigments. T brush has been one of my favorite brushes to enter my studio. It is a quill brush by Jacksons. What I love so much about it is the belly of the brush can get really full, which means it can just hold a lot of pigment at once without dispersing it all at once. It can really sit there and hold. So I can go through multiple petals without grabbing more pigment. Now, if I wasn't using so many different colors of yellow, I would probably work with it longer before I put it into the palette. Another thing I love about this brush is the fine point tip, even though this brush is full belly and has such a wide disperse. I can come up and go to the tiniest little point at the end. This brush is fantastic. Now you'll see me. I'm just going to keep on adding in the dark. Okay. Look at that umbra. It's starting to take shape. And I'm still pulling off. Now you can see as well why I chose to go back over the petals that we did in the first wash, like the first layer of petals because I'm pulling off pigment and I'm getting really cool overlaps. You can be a bit more dramatic with the overlaps if you'd like, but I wanted it to feel very soft. So we are about 75% done with painting the petals. And once we're done with this wash, we're going to be completely done. So I won't be going back into the petals again. However, these bleeds come out is how I'm going to keep them. And this is a little bit more technical. If you took my first class, which was radiant roses. You know that it's a little bit more expressive and loose. It's definitely a lot faster. This is a more manicured technical approach, which I actually like working both ways. I can work very loose and expressive, or I can be, you know, very technical and getting every little thing right. It depends on what day it is. I think we all know what that feels like. Especially artists that work in so many different mediums and styles. It's okay to work in different styles, too. I also think as artists, we get hung up on having that character signature look, and I think it's okay to be working in all types of styles. You know, let your mind wander and just experiment with whatever you want to experiment with. I went to a Dolly exhibit, and that really was a point when I started to realize how many different styles and phases we go through as an artist. He had everything. Tiny paintings to mural wall size paintings from sculptures to painted match boxes. I mean, there was everything. So, you know, don't put yourself in a box, experiment, have fun, try new things. I love doing all that in my studio. So now I'm just still filling in some of these little burnt sienna moments just to give a little bit of depth. And I want to bring that center out to the petals. So that little wash color that we mixed up. Isn't that amazing? We are only using this 17 well palette to achieve one giant sunflower head. You don't need much. Watercolor is a wonderful medium. I love all of the cool effects that you get from watercolor. T. And sometimes things happen. And you don't realize that it's going to turn out the way it does, but it's like it's like a Bob Ross happy accident, and you just embrace it. I can barely contain myself right now because we are just about done with our second layer of petals. And I am so excited to see that center come together. I cannot wait to show you this stipple effect on the center that I have in mind for our second wash on the center. So we're almost done. I'm just going to add a little bit more of this Siena in a circle. Just do really quick. A couple little lines here, a couple little lines there. And I'm glad you guys can see now. This is just a slow process, and just sink into your seat, have your cup of coffee, your cup of tea, and just move these pigments around slowly. Don't be too rushed to have something come out so perfect. Just take your time. If it's wet, you can still work in it. Once it starts to dry, all you have to do is apply a little bit of water, right? Just go over the same areas that have water color in them. But yeah, this is just about done. I'm taking a final look at this. Yeah, just a couple of pull offs, right? Just some highlights I want to add in. But I'm feeling good about it. And also, don't forget this is going to dry a little bit lighter than what you see. Just making my final little marks with that permanent yellow. And if you notice, I'm going in one little swoop of a line out from the center just to give some cool effects because those dry, that pigment will dry, and you will see those lines. And I'm also still pulling off pigment as I'm adding my last few marks to my second layer of petals. And after this, I'm going to go back into the center for my second wash and start building up the seeds even more. I feel like this is so close. All right. I've got my entire second layer of sunflower petals complete. Now let's jump back to the center. 6. Adding Details to the Center: Second Layer: Okay, now we are back at the center. I'm going to pull some of this burnt sienna that's already in my palette. If you need to add a little bit more to make it darker, go ahead. So this is going to be our second layer for the center. There's still going to be a third layer because we want to make it gradually darker because we want to preserve that white on the very inside of the head. Almost like the sun is shining in. I want to have a nice highlight there. So layer two is going to be a medium burnt sienna wash. So let's just swatch this just to make sure we have the perfect medium wash. I like to just keep my little swatch card handy. That helps keep all your scraps. Don't throw any paper away without making it a scrap. So just keep mixing around, no globs, get it on your brush, a fair amount. And we are just going to head right into the center. So using a vertical hold, go ahead and lightly tap. I'm going to stick in the darker areas. You can see where I already place some of those lines. And I want these to come off in a stipple effect because I thought that would be cool for the middle of the sunflower. When you look at it from far away, you can almost see all of those seeds forming. So that's why I'm using this technique. So don't cover the entire area. We're just going to loosely use this medium burnt sienna wash, and I'm barely kissing the paper. Also keep in mind that watercolor dries about 50% lighter than what you put down. With the exception of pure pigment, which is, very, very dark. A lot of these washes. Once the water dries and it's completely gone, then you're left with the pigment. So this is about a 50% wash. So it's going to dry a lot lighter. So just keep on adding, and I'm going to go around in a circle and get all of those dark areas. Then I'm going to hit the center. See, now it's really starting to come together. This is the part that really excites me too. When you can see things take form. You're like, Oh, yeah, we got it. So just keep on going around in a circle. I've added even a little bit of water on my brush in there. I'm not sure if you saw that. So we just keep stippling. Take your time. There is absolutely no rush here. So just keep on going around in a circle, and you're kind of just going to use your intuition a little bit here too as where you want the highlight to be. Just don't hit that highlight too much or you'll lose it. This brushwork and this sunflower is now starting to remind me of Vincent ango's sunflower paintings. You'll have to take a look at them. And now in my head, I'm like, Okay, I want to paint a whole arrangement of these sunflowers, like in a vase, just like he painted. You'll have to look them up. They're so beautiful. I love Vango's work. I love impressionism. So this is kind of probably coming out of me because I love early impressionism. So just keep on adding in a little tiny dot here and there through the highlight, so you don't have two totally different areas. You just want to start to join them up. And that's just done by carefully placing in one little dot to the next. Now, some of these dots are going to start to blend together. So it's not going to be total dots. You know, all tiny separate dots. They're going to form together, and the water is going to start to flow through all of them. And you'll get a really cool effect from that, especially when like, some of the darker pigment moves into some of the watery pigment. I love that. That's why I love watercolors specifically for all of the bleeds and the nuances. So it's really starting to come together now. I'm getting close. Just a few more little marks here and there, and I think I'm going to be done with the second layer of the center. If you need to stand up and you know, stand back from your painting and look at it from far away, you'll see more that way. But yeah, this is just a couple of little dots, and I am pretty much done. Next up is the stem and leaves. I'm so excited to get some green into this painting. Oh. 7. Painting the Stem and Leaves: Okay, now it's time to trade out our yellow palette for our green palette. We've got this gorgeous sunflower head, and it's time to add the stem and leaves. I'm just getting my palette situated, and I'm going to change my water out. I don't want any muddy yellow coming into my green. So there's a nice clean jar of water. I think I need to refill my palette with the hooker's green that I'm using. I need to make sure I have plenty on hand. This palette is dirty, but it only had the hookers green and some of the yellow from the sunflower painting that I mixed. So I'm going to grab some more of that yellow from my sunflower palette and put it in the middle well. Let's friend that off. And then I'm going to add some hookers green. That's where I keep my pure pigment right there in that well, and then I mix all the other colors in the other wells. So just rinse your brush and fill some water in the remaining wells. This is just going to be our light shades of green, medium shades of green, and darker shades of green. It's a very similar color we're mixing. We're only using hookers green and some of the yellow from our sunflower palette. So not too much variation. So mix down some of the medium wash in that well, and then we're going to mix the lighter wash right above it. I'm going to grab a little bit of that yellow to knock that green down. And the reason I do that is because you want your sunflower petals and the sunflower center to be harmonious with the hookers green right out of the tube. If you mix that together, it's just instantly going to make it harmonious. So I've got my swatch card out. I'm going to put my medium wash down now. So see, that's nice. The light wash to the medium wash, and now I'm going to mix up my darker wash. So that's a really nice color. I think I'll add in a little bit more yellow from my other palette. I just wasn't looking for a too vibrant green. I wanted just, you know, a little bit of a yellow green, just to, you know, keep it nice and cohesive with the sunflower petals. So if you can see now, I have a dark and medium and a light wash in my palette and they're ready to go. Like I said, I use a lot of liquid in my watercolor painting. You can make jars. You can store all of these colors and jars. So you just open them up and they're ready to use. I find color mixing really therapeutic, so I love mixing these wells. Every time I sit down to work, I love to sit and just mix colors and just never know what's going to turn out. So, yeah, that's a nice little light wash there. And this is looking good. I'm happy with it. So just rinse my brush off, and I'm going to start painting the leaves. My sketch is lightly drawn on my paper. I know you can't see it in the video, but it is there. It is totally my guide. I am now picking up some of my light light wash. I'm going to work on the left side of the sunflower leaf first. So see my vertical hold. I am going to be very precise. I want to preserve some of the veins from the sunflower leaf, and I'm laying in the light wash. You can see how light that is, and I'm avoiding some of the graphite lines for the veins. So you'll see a lot of people think that my leaf vein work is done in white paint, but it truly is just avoiding the watercolor paper. It just makes for a really cool effect. It makes the leaves stand out. It makes everything prominent. I'm just adding a little bit of dark probably some medium and some dark once I get into the corners of each little leaf. I love this brush again because it has the ability to fill up with a lot of pigment, but it doesn't disperse it all at once. It isn't controlled. Now I'm going to grab that dark dark. Look, I'm just popping it right into the corners of where the leaf would be at the center. So that's just going to give some depth. I'm going to move that around and keep placing pigment in. So you'll notice I do a lot of strokes with the light wash, and then I go back in and add all the darks. See how it's already giving that depth. And by pulling pigment off, you can create nice little highlights. So It's fun. Watercolors fun. You're playing in a puddle. That's all you have to know. You're just playing in puddles. So therapeutic. So I'm just going to work around, see how I'm working in kind of it's almost like doing one of those mazes. It's just weaving in and out and avoiding the white lines. And I'm going to keep adding dark and all of the center areas to give it depth. I do love how this green came out. It's got just a hint of that yellow from the petals in it. So it's going really nicely together. If you look at the sunflower and then look at the leaf, they are the same amount of vibrancy. And what I mean by that is, in terms of just being a vivid vibrant shade, they match, they line up. Because sometimes if you use a more like neon too vibrant of a color against a subtle color or like a more neutral color, it just won't look right, so you want the vibrancy to be the same in your subject, especially with botanicals. So just slow and steady here. One little mark at a time. Try to preserve those white veins. That's exactly how I get my white. Now you know. It's not that I'm using white guash or white acrylic at the end to paint my veins in. It's really just the slow steady work of avoiding the white of the paper. You could also use some liquid mask. But I typically don't because it looks different than my brush strokes. So I like just doing it by hand very precisely like this, just painting slow. Oh, This is really starting to come together now. I love when you can see the green and the yellow interact on the page. Sitting side by side, the plant is coming to life. So just slow and steady. Don't be in a rush. You know, just enjoy painting. Moving your brush around. It is so therapeutic. I hope to get everyone into watercolor. It's a medium that has brought me so much joy. I used to paint an acrylics, and I just love the cool effects you can get with watercolor. The ease of cleanup really did it for me. I remember having to spray my palette down with my acrylics all the time, and you can just reactivate your water colors like at your convenience. I just love that. And look at that. Se See all the depth. So I just know, using that dark hookers green on the very inside edges of the veins and the leaves, and I'm, you know, keeping those cool highlights. So I'm just finishing up this last leaf, and I'm going to add in a new leaf. So I'm going to put the stem in the leaf first. And then I'm going to fill the main stem. So I'm grabbing the medium green wash, and I'm going to kind of bleed it into the original leaf see it was still wet, so I love the overlaps like that. I'm going to kind of just let them blend together. And then I'm going to add in some of the light wash and continue to move around. So little by little, I'm just filling this entire stem in. And if you notice, you'll see my hand occasionally on the table while I'm painting, and that's just to give me a little bit of stability and more control. Just be careful that you don't smear your palm or anything through the painting. But that is a good little trick if you need more control and you're having like a shaky hand or something, put your palm on the desk or on the table, just like you see me doing here, if you need just a little bit more control. So I'm just laying pigment down and then pulling off. And now I'm going to work on the remaining two leaves. I'm going to kind of simultaneously, you know, manipulate the pigment in the stem as well. So I'm just grabbing some of the dark dark, and I'm going to add some of those cool little points that you see on the sunflower stem, just to make it look real. I also think they make it look less perfect. You know if something has, like, a little jut out or you know, some little imperfection, it makes it look more believable. Nature is perfect, but it's also imperfect. So keep that in mind when you're painting that your strokes do not have to be perfect. So I am working into this tiny little leaf very carefully. And notice how when I get to the tip of the leaf, I pull up quickly, and I let the tip of the brush kind of dance along the paper. The tricky part of this little leaf will be to preserve the veins, and I'm not going to drive myself crazy. I'm going to do my best, but it's not going to be 100% the exact graphite mark that's below it. That's okay. Sometimes those little happy accidents look so good in the end. You'll see I left it light on top and now I'm going to go back and add the dark. Just to give it a little bit of depth. And I think everyone is going to want this brush that I'm using because you all can see how amazing it is. I love two brands, and this is actually a new brand that I just tried out. It's called Jackson's. I think what I look for in a brush is if it can be used in technical work and also used in expressive work. And this brush just fits that bill. It is a mix of synthetic. So I'm sure you can see the ability to lift off with it, and then the ability to put more pigment down with it is amazing. It's really just a dance of putting pigment on just like this. And then pulling pigment off. I'm also adding a couple little lines just to see you know, some of those little strokes, the natural strokes in the stem that you see in the actual plant. I'm so happy I have the sunflowers on my table. Having the live reference helps me a ton. And you really don't have to have the live reference, but it is good to work from photographs. You need some sort of inspiration on your wall or on your desk around you to get you painting and in the mood to work, too. So I'm just grabbing some medium pigment and light pigment, moving around, and I'm careful not to disturb the main middle vein. I did actually miss a couple of my graphite lines, but that's okay. I don't want it to be perfect, so I just let it go, and I keep on moving. Dropping pigment in, and then pulling out. So that started to dry a bit, so I'm adding a little bit darker of pigment to those spots. We are really getting close, folks. We are right at the very end. This is usually the part of the painting that I tell myself to remain calm because my hand kind of starts moving a lot quicker because I'm so excited that I get to see the final result soon. So I have to tell myself to remain steady and calm. And get to the final bit of the painting. I am just about there. I'm adding in all of the darks to the center to give it some depth and keeping all the nice little highlights on the edge. And I'm still avoiding the center vein as much as I can. The other little veins. If you miss one here and there, that's okay. It's still going to look great. And if you have been following with me this whole time, and you're about at the same point, I am so proud of you. Keep on going. You're almost there. And I hope that everyone has a chance to upload their project in the project gallery because nothing makes me happier than seeing your artwork. I get pumped when I see a uploaded class project. I love teaching. I love spreading the joy of painting. I identify with Bob Ross so much. I will quote him so many times during these classes because I love that man. I just love his softness, and I grew up watching that. My dad always put that on for me. So we're right at the end. Just going to grab a little dark and start to create some depth there. Just a couple little spots, but I am pretty much done. To rinse my brush off. And next is back to the center for the last and final layer. 8. Final Touches on the Center: Third Layer: Now we're going to add the final details to the center. I'm going to trade out my green palette for my yellow palette because I need that beautiful burnt sienna again. And this is going to be my very last layer. So we're pretty much done. This is only going to take a minute. I'm going to grab see my yellow jar of water. So you want a cool jar of water and a warm jar of water to rinse. So I'm rinsing my brush. I'm grabbing some of this burnt sienna, and I'm going to go right back into my center for that last and final wash. The second layer on the center of the sunflower head was a medium wash of the burnt sienna. Now we're going to be mixing a dark wash for that last layer. And you can see how dark it is right now. I'm just going to be laying it in loosely and a little bit more spread apart than the second layer. This is the last layer. I don't want to get so dark that I can't come back from it. I know that these sunflower heads on my desk are just full dark. But if you do hold the sunflower up in the sunlight, you will see a bigger reflection of light. And that's what I want to achieve in this painting. Just keep on stippling. Don't do as much stippling as you did in the first and second layer. This one should be a lot lighter. I'm just hitting a couple spots. I'm not going to put too much into that highlight area, maybe just a tiny bit to bring it together. But I'm going to keep this very light. I am right at the very end. I might add just a couple more dark spots, but I am right at the end. I can feel it. You just know when it's done, and it's feeling done. So there you have it. I have completed my sunflower painting, and I'm so proud and happy, the yellow and the green and the burnt sienna, just looks so pretty. It's giving me so much cheer. Of course, as a sunflower does, and now I'm going to sign my painting. Now you have a completed sunflower painting to either keep in your own home or give to a friend. 9. Conclusion: Reflecting on Your Sunflower: If you've followed along this far, you've created a beautiful piece of art. Remember, every sunflower is unique, just like in nature. Your painting is a reflection of your personal style and vision. Just let it flow out of you. Please share your sunflower paintings in the class project gallery. I'm excited to see your work and connect with you all. Engaging with other students is a great way to support each other's artistic journeys. And if you have time to leave my class review, I'd really appreciate it. If you enjoy this video, I hope you check out my other classes, and please follow me on Instagram at Living Pattern to see time lapses in studio posts. Thank you so much for spending your time with me and happy creating.