DAY 4: SUNFLOWER IN PURPLE

We’re already onto day 4 of our Painting Challenge – welcome!

Today it’s all about joy and we’re painting one of my favorite flowers, the sunflower. Painting with this yellow color will hopefully brighten your day a little bit. Sometimes yellow can feel a bit too intense, which is why I blended it with some brown tones for this sunflower. The center is almost a black charcoal with the pollen starting to appear and you can almost hint the seeds starting to appear.

I’ve painted several large sunflowers over the years, and I grow nearly 100 of them in my garden. I truly believe the sunflower has a special way of bringing joy wherever it blooms.

The Painting Practice

Remember to turn off your phone notifications before you start.

  1. Draw a rectangle measuring either 8×10 or 4×5 inches on your paper.
  2. While looking at your reference photos as your inspiration, create a simple outline of the flower on your paper. A rough sketch is all you need.
    • Start with the center of the flower.
    • Then draw the center petal first, followed by the other petals. Nothing has to be exact.
  3. Choose your colors: I love the contrast of the bold sunflower with the soft and gentle purple sky. You pick whatever color you want but for this challenge, I encourage you to at least use yellow petals. Add some darker colors for the shaded areas and to add texture to the petals, then add some lighter color (or white) for some highlighting effects.
  4. Grab some water and your brushes, and don’t forget a towel to clean off your wet brush. Clean your brush often!
  5. Now, set a gentle timer and paint for 20 minutes for some meditative joy and playful painting. We’re going for fun and not perfection.
  6. Claim your creativity and honor your journey of showing up for yourself by signing your art work.

If setting a timer feels more stressful than helpful, simply skip it and enjoy painting for a little while.

Celebrate Your Progress:

Take a photo of today’s painting and share it with your community. I’d love to celebrate your progress with you.

As you share, I’d love to hear:

  • How did today’s painting make you feel?
  • Did painting with yellow bring you joy?
  • What colors did you choose, and why?

I can’t wait to see how your sunflower turned out. If you feel inspired to continue painting beyond 20 minutes, please do. I’d love to hear about that, too.

Next Up

Tomorrow we’re painting something completely different.

And here’s the best part… You can’t do this one wrong.