HOW TO PAINT A SUNFLOWER | Oil Tutorial

Hey everybody, how are you all doing? So today I wanted to do a step-by-step painting tutorial of how to paint the sunflower in oil paint. So, let's get started! So in this little container I've got Sansador and Liquin, and that's just going to help us with the oil paint. And so I'm going to get my paintbrush and just dip it in a little bit of Sansador and dab it on a paper towel. So first of all, I just really want to map out the sunflower, sort of look at where things are going to go. So first of all, I'm going to take some Raw Sienna, and I'm going to add just a little bit more Sansador just to make it a little bit more free and loose. And I'm just going to make a little circle where we want for the centre of the flower, and then an outer circle for where the petals are going to sort of extend to. Right now it's sort of looking like a donut, I get that. And I think I'm just going to colour in that centre bit with, again, the Raw Sienna, just to add a first layer. And because we've got some Sansador mixed with it, it should dry fairly quickly. So I'm just going to wash my brush out on the Sansador and dab it on a paper towel. Next I'm going to map out where the petals are going to go, so I'm going to take some Cadmium Orange and Raw Sienna and just mix that together, again with a bit of Sansador because it's the first layer. And using my paintbrush, I'm just going to sort of mark out an idea of where the petals are going to go and the sort of style that I'm looking for. And this is why I love using flat edge brushes for petals, because as you go to the end of the petal, you can sort of twist the paintbrush to create that really nice point, and it doesn't look too forced, instead it looks quite natural because you're doing it all in one stroke. So now I'm just going to do that for the rest of the petals. So now I'm just going to rinse my brush out in the Sansador and just give it a really good rinse and dab it on my paper towel. Now we've got our shape, we can start to add a bit of dimension, so I'm going to take some black and I'm going to add a bit of Raw Umber, and I'm just going to start to put in some of those shadows. And you know me, I'm not going to do it too carefully, so a little bit haphazardly, I'm just going to pop it in where I think it should go, and of course, if you'd like to use a reference image as I am, you can find the link in the description box. I'm going to start adding even more colour in, so I'm going to take some Raw Sienna and just pop it in the rest of the middle of the flower, just to add another layer and give it some more dimension. And taking some Raw Umber, I'm now going to add in another bit of shadow right in the centre. And I just like to dab my paintbrush into the Sansador and dab it on a paper towel next to me, just to get most of the paint off. Now taking some of that Cad Orange and Raw Sienna that we had earlier, that we used for the petals, I'm just going to fill in some of the gaps around the sunflower because I feel like it's making the petals look a bit sparse, so that's why I'm just going to go around the edge and do that. Now we want to add a bit more dimension to the petals, so I'm going to take some Cad Yellow, and obviously using a bit of Sansador just to free it up a little bit. I'm going to take my paintbrush and from the other end of the petals, I'm going to drag in that colour so it sort of blends all in one go. So we're sort of doing what we did a second ago, but this time the other way around. So starting at the tip and then widening your paintbrush to the centre of the flower. Now I'm going to start adding in a background, so taking a bit of white and adding a bit of Sansador to it so it dries fast. I'm going to add a bit of Ultramarine, just to make it nice and light. I don't mind too much if a bit of oranginess has got into there, because all that would do is take the tone down and make it more grey, which in this case might be quite nice. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take that in between each petal, just to get rid of that donut ring that's still in the background, and also to sort of blend in the petals. And this is one of the main things I love about oil paint, is because it stays wet for so long, you can really blend in those colours really, really nicely. And instead of one solid block colour for the whole of the background, I really like to change it up a little bit. So I'll remake my mixture quite a few different times, and I don't mind painterly effects in the background, because I think that's what makes especially oil painting so unique, and especially when you want to take it to an impressionistic level. Once I've done that, I'm just going to dip my paintbrush in the sans edore and give it a nice rinse and dab it on a paper towel. So now I'm going to go in with the third layer, and I'm going to start adding some more contrasts. So I'm going to take some black, and I'm going to add in some of the darkest areas that I can see in the middle of the flower. And instead of using sweeping brush strokes, this time I'm going to just dab my paintbrush onto the canvas, to really mimic the seeds in the head of the sunflower. And now I'm going to do the same with the raw umber, to make it a little bit more realistic with some different tones in there. And using the sans edore and a paper towel, I'm just going to take off the excess amount of oil paint. Now realistically, I'd probably wait for this to dry completely, maybe for 24 hours, but for the sake of this tutorial, I'm going to just add the layers now, so that you can see the whole process. So what I'm doing is I'm taking some yellow, and I'm going to go over a few of the petals again. This is just really going to add in a little bit more colour, and I'm just going to really define the petals and the shapes of them a lot more, so that they stand out on top of that background. And I'm really going to use my paintbrush and angle it, so that we can have a really nice shape to these petals, all in just one simple brush stroke. And I'm going to give my brush a little rinse in the sans edore again, because we're going to go in with a different colour next. Now I'm going to take some raw sienna and orange, like we did at the beginning, and I'm going to go ahead and make up the other bit of that petal. And this time, instead of using sans edore as a paint thinner, I'm going to use a little bit of liquid, you only need a tiny bit, and that's going to be the medium that I use from now on. So it depends what kind of colour you want your sunflower to be, I really like the vibrant orangey colours and tones to a sunflower, so that's why I'm going in again with the raw sienna and orange on the other side of the petal, to really make that more of the overall colour of the sunflower. But if you just like yellow, or maybe a bit more of an orangey yellow, then you can go ahead and use that colour instead. Now again, to add a little bit more contrast, I'm going to take a little tiny bit of liquid and raw umber, and in between the gaps in each petal, I'm just going to add that little tiny bit of shadow, and that's just going to really bring the head of the sunflower and the petals and draw them together. Next I'm going to add a little bit more definition, so I'm going to get some raw sienna, and I'm really just going to link up that shadow to the petal. I absolutely adore these warm orangey colours, and they just make me feel so so happy. Now I'm just going to go ahead and add some little shadows here and there on some of the petals, just to really bring it all in together. And now I'm going to get a little bit of ultramarine and white, just like we did with the background colour, and I'm adding a bit of liquid, and I'm just going to pop some little gaps in the petals, really to give the illusion of the background just shining through. And what I'm doing now is, while I've got this colour on my paintbrush, I'm just going to go around a few of the petals, and this is a great time to add in some different shapes into the petals that you didn't necessarily like, or didn't turn out so well, and you can just define the edges a little bit more with the background colour. And I feel like we're almost there with it, what I want to do now is just add a little bit of white to some cad yellow, and I'm going to use that as a highlight on a few of the petals. And I'm just going to add some little dashes of paint just here and there, just to really give it that impressionistic feel, and I just feel like this brings out the radiance so much more. And when you feel like it's finished, make sure you give your brush a really good rinse in the sand in the door, and again, use a paper towel to dab it off. Now I always like to take a photograph after I've finished a painting, because I just feel like it helps so much more when you see it again in a 2D format on a screen, and you can really pick up the areas that you want to change, or bits you like. Thank you so so much guys for following that tutorial, as always it'd be amazing to hear from you on social media, so make sure you follow me on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. If you enjoyed this tutorial video, and you'd like some more tutorials, remember to hit that like button, and it'd be amazing if you could subscribe as well. Thank you so much guys for all your amazing support, and have a beautiful day. Bye!