#76 Draw some flowers

I picked up these sunflowers at Trader Joe's this weekend, mostly because I had never seen sunflowers with a pale center before--only the ones with the dark brown center. I have to say, though, that it was impossible (at least for me) to satisfactorily capture the way the centers looked--a green depressed center with tiny yellow/orange/green filaments surrounding it--in watercolor. If I were a colored pencil person (and had a lot more patience than I possess), it would have been a lot easier. As it is, I worked it and worked it and finally decided it was done.

One thing I did figure out on this picture: The sunflowers persisted in looking flat, even though I added in some darks and shadows, until I finally decided to introduce a random color (alizarin crimson) and it suddenly gave them more depth and life. They still don't have the same three-dimensional feel that the vase--which I barely painted--has. Well, that's what these paintings are about--practice! (And no, it's not your imagination--I painted this 11x15 and had to scan it on my 8.5x11 flatbed scanner, so I put together four scans and you can see some seam lines. I guess I could take these out with Photoshop, but...I'd rather be painting!)