Sunflowers - Seed Sketch Book

I have been somewhat absent from this blog during the week and things have been very hectic. I am so tired that I had to come home from my little sewing group on Wednesday as I really could not keep my eyes open!! I have been trying to snatch a few minutes here and there to get on with my seed sketch book. I mentioned last time that I decided to move on to a different theme and I have always liked sunflowers so......

We have been growing sunflowers in the school garden last summer and in the Autumn term I was asked to do a little project to design seed packets for the sun flower seeds with some students. Once we had finished there were some seeds left over so I decided to follow this line. Above I have taken the shape of one of the petals from the sun flower picture and then used that shape to create some repeat patterns. The colours came from a range of pictures plus books. I put a water colour wash on the background paper as before.

I then found a scrap of textured wall paper which I think was left over from my City and Guilds course and painted that using colours and shapes.

Above is a dried sunflower head left over the sunflowers grown at school and was no longer needed. I think the way that the seeds are nestled in close to one another. I wondered how they stayed in position so securely, so I pulled some of the seeds out for my sketch book and had a look.

From the picture you can see that each seed has its own little 'honeycomb' slot which it sits in perfectly. Once the seeds have fallen out what is left behind makes a lovely pattern as well!

I find that if I decorate the background of a few pages and leave them to dry then I will go back and have an idea to draw. It is taking ages but at least I am getting somewhere. I have decorated another couple of pages and I am waiting for them to dry.

Then I will need to be inspired..............

Have a good weekend. Sophie has a ballet exam tomorrow, cannot believe that it has been two years since the last one. Where has the time gone.

xx