Monday, November 1, 2010

Sunflower watercolor

sunflower maze-SOLD!
I have had this photo hanging in my house for several years from a fall festival sunflower maze that my children wandered through when they were younger.

I thought it would be great to paint.

It was more difficult than I thought, the darks and lights were more difficult to capture than I anticipated, and I had some trouble with the shadows.

Trying to fix this and get the shadows the way I saw them, I overpainted a bit... I just thought if I try this one more thing... maybe I will like it more.

I finally decided it was time to quit and move on to the next one.   I have started another of a dog and a snowman, my only goal is not to overpaint!

10 comments:

  1. I think you nailed it Maria. A great painting of a beautiful flower. Sunflowers are so much fun to paint, but yes, they have their fair share of challenges...I agree.

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  2. It doesn't look over-painted to me . . . I think it looks great. Brings back memories of my kids on field trips to our local farm where there were big sunflowers growing as well :)

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  3. Thanks Gretchen and Theresa, you are so....good for my confidence!
    I appreciate the positive feedback.

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  4. This is really lovely Maria, I like the gesture of the sunflower! I tried my first watercolor yesterday and let's just say I will be sticking with oils!!

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  5. I really think you did a beautiful job. I especially like the composition and your details.

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  6. Thank you Dana and Leslie, I think I will try more flowers...eventually...and I would love to try oils some day...my mom painted in oils and I have always wanted to try. It is on my list of things to learn. It is a long list!

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  7. lovely. i love sunflowers paintings. real nice

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  8. Thank you so much, flowers are still a bit of struggle for me, but I keep trying!

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  9. Oh Maria!! This is beautiful.. I see no such thing of overpainting on this one. I have been wanting to paint a watercolor of a sunflower for quite some time now and have not yet attempted it. Great job.

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  10. Thanks Jennifer, I look forward to seeing your sunflower paintings, I will watch for them, but meanwhile, your portraits are amazing!

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