Odessa Sunflower

15x22 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press painted previously for the Odessa, Texas Art Association live demo program. I photographed the sunflower in 2003 in that town as Leada Wood and I were traveling for an art meeting; many other photos from that day have been painted but not this one. About 1.5 hours was the time limit. This is wet on dry using 1" flat sable brush and these pigments: Quinacridones burnt orange and gold, Prussian, ultramarine and Bice blues, arylide and cadmium yellows, and new gamboge. A very wet Blue Bice (American Journey) hue was the main background color. As an opaque, it had to be thinner. Note the two small lavender and brown shaded moths. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

SunShine Sunflower

15x22 watercolor of a mature sunflower bending its head down from the weight of the summer sun.  This painting was a demo, done in about 1.5 hours, and has now been SOLD.

Sunflower - WIP almost done

After intensifying the red background and leaves with additional washes or glazes, I loaded my 1/2" sable flat with gold, orange, red and blue paint then splattered each one randomly.  Tony Couch once told me if you are going to splatter, then do so over the entire composition and not in one isolated area.  Not done yet, but close.  Now I'm contemplating partial outlining in black India ink.  As this is an imaginary image I'm taking it slower than usual.  Stay tuned for the final episode.  It is at this stage that I select my next painting and began creative wheel turning, LOL!

Sunflowers - WIP demo

Beginning of the red colored background and continuing on with various yellow hued petals...so stay tuned.  Reds used are Grumbacher true red, alizarin crimson, and transparent pyrrol orange.