Today we start with a bouquet of sunflowers. On white paper we make some sketches in charcoal first. From different angles and different cut-outs. The second part of the lesson we work on brown paper and Conté crayons in sienna, burnt sienna and white.

I choose to let my flowers somewhat loose on the paper. There is no vase, no support. I try to draw what I see, yet I make a conscious choice to leave out the background and vase. Even though the teacher warns me that the effect might not work, we both agree later that the flowers do have a sense of coherence and don't need more than the brown paper.

Loved doing it. I was in control of my hand and the material. The teacher compliments me not only for my choices, but also for seeing and conveying the nature of the sunflower. I feel energized and confident. This feels much better than last Saturday.