This bright floral canvas will inspire you with a beautiful vase of flowers.

SUPPLIES

• water container
• palette or plastic plate
• paper towels
• 1" flat brush
• liner brush
• #8 flat brush
• #12 flat brush
• mop brush
• pen
• canvas
• white graphite paper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Load a 1” flat brush with Canvas Gel and paint the canvas.

2. Lay Snow White on the top 1/3 of the canvas and Payne’s Grey on the middle 1/3 of the canvas. Wipe brush. Starting at the top of the canvas and using a slip-slap stroke, spread the Snow White over the top 1/3 and into the Payne’s Grey. Wipe brush.

3. Spread the Payne’s Grey over the middle 1/3 of the canvas and up into the Snow White.

4. Wipe brush. Blend between the two colors using a soft crisscross stroke with the flat of the brush. (Wipe the brush off often.)
5. Load the brush with Canvas Gel and pull the flat of the brush up from the bottom of the canvas. (Refer to photo.) Let completely dry.
6. Using the white graphite paper and a pen, transfer the pattern.
7. Load the 1” flat brush with a touch of Canvas Gel and work into brush on the palette or plastic plate.
8. Load the brush with Indian Turquoise and paint the vase.

9. Pick up some Desert Turquoise; pulling the brush up from the bottom of the vase, let the color pick up here and there. Wipe brush.
10. Load the brush with Spa Blue and lightly pull the flat of the brush from the top of the vase down with little to no pressure on the brush. (You want the paint to pick up here and there.)
11. Lightly brush over the vase with a mop brush to soften the colors. (Make sure to use a feather light touch.) Wipe brush.

12. Load the brush with Snow White and pull the flat of the brush down on the left side to paint a highlight. (Use very little pressure and let the brush just skim the surface of the vase.)
13. Load a #8 flat brush with Raw Sienna and then side-load one corner with True Ochre; paint the petals.

14. Load a #12 flat brush with Burnt Sienna and paint the flower centers. (Don’t forget about the flowers on the table.)

15. Load a #12 flat brush with a mix of Payne’s Grey and Plantation Pine; paint the leaves and stems.

16. Load a #12 flat brush with a touch of Canvas Gel and side-load one corner with Lamp Black; shade the bottom of each flower center. (Refer to photo often.)

17. With the brush corner still side-loaded with Lamp Black, paint a small “C” stroke in the centers. (Refer to photo.)

18. Paint the front petals with Saffron Yellow. Add some True Ochre to the brush and paint over the back petals again.
19. Add petals in front of the flower centers with Sunny Day. (Refer to photo.)

20. Let dry and then paint with Saffron Yellow.

21. Load the brush with Sunny Day and lightly pull the color from the tip of the petal down to highlight (front petals only).

22. Load Payne’s Grey on the chisel edge of the #8 flat brush and pull a small stroke up from the base of the front petals. Soften with the mop brush. (Don’t bring the color up too far as you want to keep the tip of the petals bright.)

23. After you’ve painted all of the petals, add a glow of orange to the base of the back petals by side-loading one corner on a slightly wet #12 flat brush with Orange Flame. Float the color at the base of the back petals and soften with the mop brush.

24. Paint all of the sunflowers as in Steps 16-23. Shade between the petals if needed using Payne’s Grey.

25. Load a #12 flat brush with Payne’s Grey and Plantation Pine; basecoat the leaves and stems.

26. With Payne's Grey and Plantation Pine still in the brush, load a touch of Yellow Green and Snow White to highlight the petals.

27. On the larger leaves, paint the stem down the center of the leaf and pull strokes from the edges in and angled toward the base of the leaf.
28. Keeping those colors in the brush, add some Yellow Green and Desert Turquoise; mix on the palette just a bit. Paint some bright highlights on leaves and stems.

29. I like to add dabs of the leaf colors here and there to add a softness and fullness to the arrangement. Start with the Payne's Grey/Plantation Pine mix from Step 25 first and then add some of the other leaf colors to highlight.
30. Load a #8 flat brush with Payne’s Grey and paint daisies. Let dry.

31. Once dry, re-paint the daisies with Snow White: Start at the top of the petal, push on the corner of the brush, pull and slide on the chisel edge of the brush as you near the center of the flower. (You don’t have to cover up all of the Payne’s Grey.)
32. Load a #8 flat brush with Saffron Yellow and paint the centers of the daisies. Side-load one corner with Raw Sienna and paint the bottom of the round center. (Refer to photo.) Wipe brush.
33. Load the same brush with a touch of Yellow Green and Indian Turquoise; highlight the top of the round center.

34. Dry-brush shadows underneath the stems, flowers, and leaves on the table with Payne’s Grey. Also shade under the leaves and petals that touch the vase.

35. Add Payne's Grey to the dark places in the arrangement: between the flowers and leaves. (Refer to finished project.)

36. Load a 1” flat brush with very inky Indian Turquoise and pull up some strokes from the bottom of the canvas angled toward the vase. (Notice the angles from the right toward the vase and then from the left toward the vase.)
37. Brighten highlights on some of the front petals on the sunflowers with Sunny Day and a touch of Snow White.
38. Load the liner brush with inky paint and sign your art. Let all dry completely.
39. After the painting has dried for a couple of days, seal with Soft-Touch Varnish.

DOWNLOADS

RELATED PROJECTS