Hi it's Anna Mason.
Long a favourite with painters, sunflowers
are some of the most gorgeous and evocative
flowers out there.
But their yellow petals and complex centres
can make them a massive challenge when aiming
for a realistic result in watercolour.
So in this video I wanted so show you how
I went about painting this gorgeous glowing
sunflower.
I began with a drawing which outlined the
edges of the petals as well as the darker
shapes of colour within them.
And I also drew in plenty of the detail I
could see in the flower centre.
I started the painting by blocking in the
lightest yellow to the petals with a wash
and popping in the spots of it I could see
within the flower centre.
Next I applied the lightest browns to the
flower centre - applying my paint with a stippling
technique to recreate the rough texture present
there and changing the colours in my mix a
little to reflect the different shades of
brown I could see.
Next I used a smaller brush to mark in the
very darkest areas of the flower centre with
a fairly watery paler version of the black
colour.
I did this, rather than working with thick
black paint straight away, in order to make
it easier to correct a mistake if I made one
and because, even within the black parts of
the flower centre, there was some texture
present, so having this pale layer down first
meant I could leave some little gaps through
to it when I went on to apply the thicker
dark mix on top.
This created some tonal variation, which is
what gives the impression of texture.
Oh, and crucially, I only ever apply the next
layer once the one underneath is dry.
With the darkest tones painted, I could make
some tonal adjustments, darkening up the midtones
with another layer and then the darkest tones
with another layer.
With the flower centre painted it made judging
how dark to take the petals easier.
Next I painted the darkest tones in the petals
followed by the darker midtones.
The key to getting this looking right is to
have plenty of orange in your mix and not
too much grey because the blue that's present
in grey would end up mixing with the yellow
in the petals to make the darkest tones look
green - NOT what we want in a sunflower.
Next I brought the petals together by adding
another bright yellow layer to the midtones
to darken them some more.
Finally I made some tonal adjustments to the
petals before adding a further level of detail
to the centre
and making some more tonal adjustments to
the whole piece, until the flower was finished.
A full video class of this sunflower showing
the detailed mixes I use throughout is available
now in my online School.
And there's also a step-by-step project of
it featured in my new book 'Anna Mason's Watercolour
World', published by Search Press.
If you've enjoyed this tip video, please subscribe
to my YouTube channel and share it with your
friends.
And if you'd like to take one of my tried
and tested video classes FOR FREE, skip over
to AnnaMasonArt.com where you'll find tonnes
of resources to help you pick up your brush
and paint the way you've always wanted to.
Remember, you won't improve your painting
unless you MAKE the time to paint.
So be sure to schedule in some me-time this
week and paint something YOU love.
Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you
soon with another tip for creating watercolours
with "wow".