Inspirational journal: Frilly Daffodils

Spring is here! That’s exactly what I think whenever I see these vibrant yellow flowers popping up everywhere!

Their distinctive frilly trumpet centres capture my attention every time. I just can’t resist painting them in my sketchbook or sending them to family and friends at Easter time. With their six large yellow petals, and green elegant stems keeping them upright and tall, it makes them even more eye catching.

When I study their yellow hues up close, I can see that I have the exact matching paints which would be just right to use. If you take a close look at their stems too, you will see hints of turquoise which you wouldn’t expect. Daffodils come in all shapes and sizes and in a variety of yellow and orange shades. I feel it’s always an important part of the process to really study the colours to your subject and match them to your paints as best you can so that your painting comes to life.

I’ve selected some daffodils from my own garden and placed them in a vase for this short study. They are such wonderful inspiration! If you like you can use a photo as your reference if more preferable.

To really show off the form to these flowers, I’ve decided to paint one at a side angle, so that I can really accentuate the distinctive trumpet shape to the inner part of the flower. With the second study, I have painted it front on so I can enhance the textured frilly edge to the centre with a dark orange hue and capture the complimenting six petals which surround it.

I loved every moment dropping in the vibrant yellow hues and extending the colour outwardly to create the form to these beautiful flowers. Here’s how they turned out:

You can see the steps I followed to paint my two daffodils in my loose watercolour style in this free step-by-step guide.

Which flower makes you think of springtime? Is it the vibrant yellow daffodil like me? Let me know in the comments below..

Jennifer Rose xx