This is my version of Van Gogh's Three Sunflowers in a Vase. He painted this during his Arles period in August 1888.  I added more detail to my picture by painting candles next to the sunflowers. I didn't paint  the vase the same as Vincent Van Gogh did. Instead,  I used purples and blues for it. I picked Three Sunflowers because I love sunflowers and I like the color yellow. It was Van Gogh's favorite color. I also think he liked sunflowers because he painted them a lot.

I think I used color and shape the most in my painting.  My painting has a lot of color.  I put daubs of paint on my background because I thought it would make the background look nicer and not as plain.  When I painted the brown middle of the sunflowers, I mixed red, blue and yellow paint to make the brown.  I did this because I wanted the brown to be different than the brown paint in the jug.  I also wanted to be more like Van Gogh because he mixed his own colors. 

I like the petals on my sunflowers the best.  I think it's because I drew each one individually.  I took the time to outline them with craypas so they would stand out better.  I'm pleased with the candles too.  The first time I painted them they didn't stand out.  Then I traced over the candles' lines with dark marker.  I noticed how much better they stood out.  I think I did an awesome job on my picture.  I am proud of myself and I'm pretty sure my family will be too. 

If I could do something differently I would put more swirls in my background. I would do this because it would bring out the background more and give it more texture. The daubs of paint I added helped, but not enough.

I learned that Van Gogh painted many paintings but didn't sell many. After he died people bought his paintings. But when Van Gogh was alive no one cared for his paintings and that made him sad and mad. I liked this project because I got to learn more about Vincent Van Gogh.

By Katie

Click here to see the original online.