Vase with white flowers

18 June 2026

Video - Level ◆◆◆

Here's a deceptively simple painting delivers maximum impact for minimal effort — a wet-in-wet background and a limited palette do most of the work, while the result glows with light and looks far more skillful than it actually is to paint. You've got this!

Once the groundwork is laid with a simple drawing and a bit of masking fluid, the rest comes together fast: a big, loose wet-in-wet wash behind the flowers, a restrained palette, and the painting is nearly finished before you know it.

This large vase of flowers sat on a windowsill of a cafe in the beautiful town of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France — impossible to walk past without noticing. I know several of my students stopped to photograph it too; it was clearly a painting waiting to happen. I sketched it as a small vignette in my travel sketchbook, alongside a larger study of one of the town's pretty alleyways, but I loved it so much I knew I wanted to paint it again properly, full-size, with you.

No complications here — just jump straight in.

Happy painting!