Sunflower Drama - Tah Dah!!!

Don't worry, I haven't been idle . . . I've finished up the final piece for my upcoming Rogue Valley Manor Show. This coming Tuesday afternoon, I will be dropping off 25 pieces (I'm not sure that they will have room to hang them all but, I'll let them choose that) and then doing a talk of 20-30 minutes about my art and process the following evening. The show runs for the month of October - but is open only to the residents of this exclusive retirement home.

Now, that may sound e-a-s-y and fun to some of you . . . but for me, who used to drop out of classes that required public speaking, this is big for me. I'm surprisingly feeling kinda confident about it though . . . all I'm doing is talking about what I love to do. But I'm actually putting off writing the presentation right now, as I type this! :)

Anyhow, I'm pleased with how our sunflower girl finished up. I waited til the last minute to determine whether my focal point would be up in the upper left area or in the lower right petals. But as the painting was coming together, I just loved the textures and colors and patterns formed in that lower right table/shadow area. So I kept the strong white of that green leaf, just suggesting a hint of the sun-backed leaf and then, softened some of the sharper details up around the second sunflower in the upper left. And - tah, dah!!

I did have some difficulty photographing this image and would take any suggestions for future similar situations. The very dark sunflower center has some really dense, thick pigment, almost like oils. And when these areas dry . . . they can form patterns that reflect even the slightest light source when you are photographing. Some of that deep blue in my brown center of the sunflower is really reflection - not blue pigment. The watercolor was shot with only diffused natural light during the late afternoon . . . and I don't know what else to do to solve the challenge. Anyone, ideas?