August 2024

I made this piece for my mother’s birthday. The Californian poppy is her favorite flower because it reminds her of Seattle, where she grew up. As you can see it is in the shape of a stamp! My mother collects postage stamps, so I thought it would be cute to add that into the design. I also added an art nouveau inspired border, which I thought complemented the piece very nicely. I opted for a bluey-green background to contrast against the bright orange flower.

To make this piece, I first sketched everything out with a colored pencil. Then I blocked in the big shaped with watercolor, followed by painting more with gouache. Lastly, I used colored pencils to do the finer details in the flower and also fill in the gradient in the border. I also used a golden paint to do the sun, which reflects in real life, but you can’t see it very well in photos.