Posted in Kansas April 01, 2020 by

Show Your Kansas Spirit With This Easy Step-By-Step Sunflower Painting Tutorial

I’m sure many of us are familiar with those paint-and-sip places where you show up and are taught how to paint something to hang in your home. Even people who say they can’t paint well end up with something looking pretty good that they’re proud of! I hope you enjoy this step-by-step sunflower painting tutorial that’s a great craft to do at home whenever you’re stuck inside and miss the outdoors.

What you need: paint, a pencil, eraser, small medium and large paint brushes, a sponge if you want, something to mix paint on, a washcloth you don’t want to keep, water, and a canvas to paint on.

You can use a piece of wood, a pallet put together in slats, or anything else you like. It doesn’t matter if it’s square, rectangular, or circular! This design works great with just about any shape.

Paint colors I recommend: Teal or blue, green, white, black, yellow, brown, and red. If you have colors closer to what I have in the photo, by all means, use those!

We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life as we all practice social and physical distancing. While we’re continuing to feature destinations that make our state wonderful, we don’t expect or encourage you to go check them out immediately. We believe that supporting local attractions is important now more than ever and we hope our articles inspire your future adventures! And on that note, please nominate your favorite local business that could use some love right now: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nominate/
Hello readers, both Kansan and not! My name is Clarisa, and as I am sure most of you may not know, I love to paint! I do a lot of art in my spare time when I'm not writing about Kansas, and I thought this was the perfect time to share a tutorial with everyone.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
As we know, sometimes it rains and sometimes it really pours. It might even snow! When you're stuck inside for whatever reason, come back and think on this painting tutorial! Think of it as your plan for the next rainy day.
First, get everything ready. All your supplies need to be within easy reach, and ready to go so you don't have to leave it unattended.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
If you have cats or other pets, you know how they and their hair) often finds a way into everything you want to keep them out of.

First, were going to take the pencil and sketch out a faint circle for the leaves, center, and center rings. It will make things easier down the road.
Next, we are going to take one of your larger brushes and start the background. We don't need to cover the whole thing, just the area around the largest circle.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Blend in the blues to the aqua shades, and out to the green. We like the patchy look, but if you want it smooth, take as much time as you need. After this, let it dry.
After that, we are going to go in with a black and brown mixture around the outside of the flower's center.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Next add your brown to the thickest stripe, using as much paint as feels right. We're going to add texture after the next couple steps, so don't worry about how it looks right now.
Finishing the outside ring, next move to the inside. You will want a dark ring on the next line as well, so use your black-brown mix for that instead.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
We're using a brown shade with a bit if yellow to brighten it up here. Then, we'll add a dark brown-black center.
Texture time! What I am doing here is dabbing my brush all over the edge ring, brown ring, dark middle ring, and yellow-brown ring.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
It makes it appear more bumpy, like seeds do. You don't want to hit the canvas very hard when you're bouncing the brush along, or else you'll get white spots. Just smush the paint, not the canvas. After this, let it dry.
Next we'll mark out where the petals are going. You can paint them willy-nilly, but I like to keep things a certain way when I do flowers.
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You'll want petals that are fully visible, with wider apart lines, and you'll also want petals hidden behind other ones. Those we'll keep lines closer to the last set. I've pointed at each type, but something like what I've drawn works well.
Now, we take a thick round brush and start slapping on the petal spots. We're going to go past the line into the background, but that's alright. Here, I'm using a yellow mixed with white to keep things light for later on.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Remember that nothing needs to be exact. If you only have a medium or smaller paintbrush, you can easily still complete this painting, it only changes the time it takes. Do things at your own pace! Nothing bad will happen if it starts to dry, I promise. After this, let it dry.
After the petals are marked out, we're going to go to full white paint. Here is where I paint on the ends of the petals, in white so that it covers the background the best.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Make sure to think about the small ones hidden behind the large ones, and the ones you can only see half of. If you need to, refer to the finished piece at the beginning! After this, let it dry.
After that, we're going to take a light brown/yellowish shade and put a bit on a dry brush. Then just dab it on around the ring like you see here. Keep it light, because you can always put more paint on, but once it's on there, it's there for good.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Then, take a light brown shade with a little yellow in it and separate your petals. You want it to look natural, and each line should connect back to the little spikes you drew before the petals. After this, let it dry.
Next we're doing the fun part: the petals! Start with the tiny ones peeking out from the back. Go in with plain yellow, whatever shade looks best to you. I mix a tiny bit of white in mine to make it work a little harder.
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Fill in all the background petals before adding a little bit of yellow-orange to those petal-dividing you just finished. It makes the whole piece feel a little more warm! After this, let it dry.
Then, you can add streaks of slightly darker yellow (I used brown to darken it a tad) to give the background petals some texture. I put in some white streaks as well for good measure, just where it felt right.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Then I painted in the front petals! This part is fun with a large brush, but you can get more precision if using a medium one. Whatever feels right, go with your gut.
For the main petals, I started adding some white streaks and highlights wherever it felt best.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
Spots where the light would hit the edge of a petal are a good place to start, but use a small brush and a light hand with these white streaks. After a while, you feel like you're finished. That's because you are! After the white, let it dry.
Next, we need to cover the edges. If you paint around the edges, then you've already got this covered.
ClaryFeyArt/OnlyInYourState
For those of us like myself that always forget, it's nice to add a border. I mixed my teal color with a bit of black to make a dark teal/navy shade, and used a flat square brush very slowly to only cover the edges. Now, you're done with the whole piece! Make sure to sign and date the back.
Your beautiful new painting, after it dries, is ready to be hung up in a new place. Now, choosing the best spot is always the tough part.
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If its a circle or square canvas, you can hang it from any side and any corner. We recommend rectangles stick to a side, but as long as you like it, we think it should hang wherever it looks best.

Is this something you’d like to see more of? If you want this to be a more regular event here at Only In Your State, make sure to tell us about it in the comments and share it with your friends. I would love to do more of these if Kansas loves them enough!

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