Easy poppy flower painting

Get your creative fix with this quick flower painting! Download the lesson PDF below.

Step 1. Tinting the canvas.

Squeeze out some Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna Satin Series Acrylic Paint. First tint the canvas with Yellow Ochre from the left side of the canvas. As you move to the right side of the canvas add some Burnt Sienna into the Yellow Ochre and take this colour into the right hand side of the canvas. By the time you reach the far right of the canvas it should be pure Burnt Sienna.

Step 2. Painting the background.

Draw in the vase shape onto the centre of the canvas with a pencil then draw in the table top at the bottom of the vase. Squeeze out some Titanium White, Turquoise, Phthalo Blue, Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre. Refer to the finished painting to familiarize yourself with the order of how the paint goes on. Here are the basic steps that were used: a) Lay Titanium White mixed with Turquoise around the the vase. Fade the paint out to nothing as you move up the canvas. b) Add more Phthalo Blue into the initial colour where the background meets the table to darken the tone. c) Blend Yellow Ochre from the top portion of the canvas into the blue. d) Blend Burnt Sienna in from the right of the canvas into the blue. e) Paint the table top in with a mix of Titanium White, Phthalo Blue and Turquiose.

Step 3. Painting the poppies.

The paint used for the rest of this project is Mont Marte Oil Paint. Squeeze out some Permanent Red, Orange Yellow and Ivory Black onto the palette. Create a mix of Permanent Red with a touch of Phthalo Blue. Refer to an image of the finished painting to get an idea of how to paint the flowers and paint the poppy shapes into the area above the vase. Create the shapes slightly different sizes. Paint Permanent Red into the bottom half of each flower. Lay the paint on fairly thickly and do not overly mix this colour into the underlying colour. Next, paint Orange Yellow into the Permanent Red to suggest highlight. Paint a dot of Ivory Black into each flower followed by an even smaller white dot in the centre of each white spot.

Step 4. Painting the vase.

Paint Ivory Black into the right side of the vase and bring it 1/4 of the way across the vase. Add a little paint into the bottom of the vase and in between the flowers also. Paint Phthalo Blue up to the black and blend it into it. Next add Titanium White into the left side of the vase and blend it into the blue. Use a large soft brush held loosely to create a soft transition between the colours.

Throughout the lesson, keep walking back to view your work from a distance to see how the colours are working together.