DAY 13: FIELD OF TULIPS

Welcome to Day 13 of your challenge!

Today’s challenge is to be selective what we choose to paint, and only paint what we enjoy the most to paint. So for example, this is a field of tulips that I painted for an online auction. The perspective is that you’re laying down on the field and looking through the flowers and at the sky. Which flower makes you feel the most joy and playful? Paint that one or two. Be selective.

Field of Purple Tulips - Spring Art Auction 2013, front

The Painting Practice

Remember to turn off your phone notifications before you start.

  1. Since you’re picking only one or two tulips to paint, feel free to change the shape of your canvas to a 5×4 or an 10×8. Draw the ‘box’ on your canvas paper to know what you have to work with.
  2. While looking at your reference photo as your inspiration, find the flowers you want to paint and visualize them on your canvas. If you want to paint the background, do that first. Then sketch out the flowers with a pencil, starting with the petals first, then the stem.
  3. Choose your colors, they can be whatever colors you’d like. If you opted to paint the background first, you may want to fill in the flowers with a thin, smooth white paint layer so the sky doesn’t shine through the petals.
  4. Grab some water and your brushes, and don’t forget a towel to clean off your wet brush.
  5. Now, set a gentle timer and paint for 20 minutes for some meditative joy and playful painting. Tap into the fun of these flowers.
  6. Sign your art work. Don’t focus on the outcome but instead claim your creativity and honor your journey of showing up for yourself by putting your name on your work.

If you feel called to continue painting past 20 minutes, please do so.

SHARE YOUR CREATION:

Take a photo of your finished challenge and share it on social media (tag #studioeriksdotter so I can see it), and tell me: What did you like the most about today’s challenge? The colors you chose, picking which flowers to paint?