Prime the paper with Golden white gesso to create some brushmark texture on the paper.

Then use some of the heavy body acrylic paints to apply the base colour for the various components of the subject.

Apply some phthalo blue, quinacridone magenta, buff titanium and benzimidazolone yellow light to the areas where it will help the next layer of colours.

In order to let the sunlit petals stand out apply a dark value made from dioxazine purple with a touch of burnt sienna to the top left-hand corner.

Aim to abstract most of the flowers within the daffodil composition and paint the sunlit petals with the almost-white lightest value against the dark background.

Then use some phthalo blue to indicate the edge of the jug of daffodils and the vase for the chrysanthemums.

Add further strokes of buff titanium and titanium white to create a mass for the daffodils.

Add a glaze of diluted dioxazine purple over the yellow of the chrysanthemums as shadow colour, then make up a purple-bias grey using the three primary colours in the painting plus white, and apply in some of the areas of the background.

The lighter parts of the background are painted using a light mixture of phthalo blue and titanium white

Paint some of the daffodil centres using a touch of cadmium orange, this will help to show where the flower heads are and which ones you will define further.

Strenthen the dioxazine purple in the corner to make a darker base at this stage.

Paint the blue daisies using ultramarine blue and added a yellow centre with pastel.

Then add added some quinacridone magenta to the pink carnations and use the same dark dioxazine purple to bring a darker value to the centre of the carnations and also behind them.

Use the same dark purple mix to add colour to the shadow side of the jug and the vase, then mix a green using ultramarine blue and benzimidazolone yellow to add a few stems for the flowers.

Work a little bit more into the mass of the daffodil heads, trying to keep things abstracted and not so well defined.

Add a stem for the side-view flower head.

Using the same grey mixture made earlier, add some colour to the background on the left-hand side of the vase of daffodils, then make a dark green mixture and add it as a base for the yellow chrysanthemums. With a light value such as yellow, a dark base is needed so that the light yellow can show up.

Keep your brushmarks chaotic to keep a painterly style rather than a neat and tidy surface.

Add a dark mix of dioxazine purple and magenta at the base of the pink carnations.

Start to soften the colours of the background a little bit at this stage.

Make more grey for the background by adding all the three primary colours of blue, yellow and magenta plus white, adjusting the proportions to get the grey to be more biased towards one of the primary colours in different areas, until you arrive at a harmonious balance.

Paint the yellow chrysanthemums with benzimidazolone yellow medium, occasionally adding a touch of white to make the yellow a little bit more opaque.

Apply a mix of light benzimidazolone yellow and white for the highlighted flower heads, then paint the band of colour behind the jug and the vase.

Paint the lighter areas of the background with a mixture of phthalo and titanium white.

Make the grey mixture lighter by adding white and paint the sunlit area of the jug and soften the darker side by over-painting with a slightly lighter shadow colour.

Do the same for the light blue vase, this time using a mix of phthalo and white for the lighter side.

Finished painting

Mother’s Day Flowers, mixed media, (48x55cm)

At this stage, it can be a good idea to isolate the painting with a mount and stand back to assess the progress, to see where you can improve things.

Spend more time on the background, using a smaller pointed brush in order to get some energy back into the work.

Use a soft grey Sennelier chalk pastel to soften the dark background behind the sun-bleached daffodil petals.

To improve the composition add a couple of glimpses of yellow chrysanthemums to poke through the blue daisies, add some light pink highlights to the carnations with a Sennelier soft pastel to complete.

To find out more about Soraya visit her website, www.sorayafrench.com

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