detail from sketch of dead sunflowers © Mari French 2011
okay… I realise many images can be intriguing when cropped and magnified, but I love this detail from a late afternoon sketch I did in November, in a field of dead sunflowers (in Harpley, Norfolk). I like the dark beauty of the granulations of colour as they have bled and flowed together. This is why I enjoy playing with wet-in-wet watercolour often combined, as here, with watercolour pastels. (Just wish I could reproduce this effect on a large scale!)
Below is the original sketch, and a further detail. For me the dead plants are more satisfying to paint than the living summer ones, glorious though they are to look at.
Winter sunflowers (watercolour sketch) © Mari French Nov 2011
dead sunflowers, detail from sketch © Mari French 2011
Mari French RI : contemporary artworks 
Dead plants are way more interesting! I know you don’t have the vibrant colours – but the texture and shape – ooh yes! Beautiful and subtle Mari …
Definitely Elaine… we were talking about this back on my ‘wabi sabi’ post I think?
Thanks for the feedback : )