My Sunflowers~ WIP & Completion

Step 4) Completion. I've added more gouache, some colored pencil including the gold metallic for accent and tweaked this as much as I dare. I see things I'd like to change or adjust a little, some of the foliage became a little muddy for my taste but overall I say "mission accomplished".

Step 3) Here I've begun working on values and color temperature with repeated glazes. I've also added some toned gouache in a few spots.

Step 2) The frisket film has been removed and I've started painting the flowers. At this point I'm just trying to put some paint down and get my bearings. I'm working in transparent watercolor only at this stage.

Step 1) I prepped 140# Fabriano HP w/c paper by applying frisket film and cutting around my subjects with an Exacto knife. Afterward I added some gesso to the background area but didn't cover the entire background. I mixed one container of plain Phthalo blue fluid acrylic (diluted w/water), another with Hookers green fluid acrylic (diluted)and a third with a mixture of both the Phthalo and the Hookers, also diluted. I then proceeded to pour paint. Pouring paint is always a mess but Phthalos take it to a whole new level. I had Phthalo blue fingernails for three days.

Sorry to be so late in posting an update but I lost most of my internet connection last Tuesday, the 27th due to circumstances out of my control. It was finally restored this afternoon to working order. Apparently the underground cable is in need of replacing which was causing my signal interruptions but the engineer sent from my provider managed to get me up and running for the time being.

I'm posting a WIP along with the finished painting. This version was basically a dry run for the main event and is only 15" x 9". I kept to the palette in my last post and I like it! There's a few things I will probably adjust on the final painting but overall I'm pleased with my results.