Watercolor Painting Revised: Sunflower

Since I had all my watercolor stuff set up on my kitchen table for the Venice cafe painting, I decided to try to improve my Sunflower watercolor painting.  This, again, was from a Karlyn Holman line drawing in a kit that included a photo reference of a flower, brief painting instructions, a photo of Karlyn's painting, and a line drawing.

This was my first attempt at the painting.  Okay, but kind of pale and weak for such a strong subject as the sunflower.

I decided to use a technique that I learned from Karlyn's DVD, Watercolors Without Boundaries.  She paints white tissue paper with her watercolor palette, letting the colors blend together, and applies them to the painting with Yes! paste.  To be more specific, she uses the paper toilet seat covers found in public restrooms!  Dad, my sister, and I got a good laugh out of that when we watched that part of the DVD together a couple of weeks ago. 

I did not have a johnny seat cover, but used some painted white craft tissue.  I tore it into small pieces and pasted them onto the flower petals.  Then I enriched the color by overpainting.  I notched up the colors in the backgrounds, as well.  Here is the revised version.

I like this version much better, and am ready to sign it and call it DONE!

And, I couldn't resist signing up for one more Karlyn Holman workshop at Art of the Carolinas next weekend.  She is going to teach us how to paint boats, but it will be on a stretched canvas support.  That sounds very new and different!  Here is the description of the Friday workshop.

Paint these colorful boats from Vernazza, Italy on this unique surface. You will be provided with a pre-drawn sketch of these boats, stretched onto a wooden frame. Paint this image and then add a spray of acrylic and frame your finished painting like an oil painting. This lesson is an abstract composition, as well as, an on location scene. The interlocking shapes and bright colors form a strong design that is exciting to paint. Join the fun and take home a finished painting on canvas.

I am getting excited about my weekend of painting lessons!