DAY 5: Happy Monday! Here is my painting SUNFLOWER #1 as I found it this morning in my studio. Today I'm going to try to finish painting all the white areas.

The first thing I began painting was the stem, and then the leaves on the bottom.

The biggest leaf under the main flower took quite a bit of time. But I'm liking how this big detailed area of green really balances the composition. Maybe painting this particular sunflower wasn't such a bad idea after all!

This painting is starting to look much better as the remaining white areas get "colored in." The small flower on the right adds a nice pop of yellow to the blue sky. I didn't finish getting all the white areas done today, but I did get pretty close... more tomorrow! Did I mention that I took the photo for this painting when I was in Kansas City, MO? I was visiting some of my favorite friends, and we saw a field of sunflowers growing by the side of the road. They were kind enough to pull over so I could take some photos. This will be the third sunflower I've painted from photos I took in that field on that hot, hot, sunny summer day.