Spring is around the corner and although I was hoping that 2021 will be better than last year, but we are still under tight corona restrictions here in the UK. Hopefully things can get better in the summer, but until then, I have you and all these flowers to keep me busy!

2020 golden flower challenge was our biggest one and lots of you were able to participate and I am hoping we can do even more painting this year! I am upping my game this year and instead of tracing flowers by hand, I am tracing them with my ipad and apple pencil on procreate. I am still going to paint them all by hand and a brush, but that process was slightly quicker.

By the way, if you are not familiar with this challenge let me tell you more about. This is the FIFTH year of the annual challenge and it’s basically a free community activity, where I provide you with flower templates to paint to improve your brush-work skills and colour selection for 14 days. It is also a nice way to welcome the beautiful Spring season with all the flowers that will blossom soon.

Floral motifs have a very important role within Islamic patterns and you can see them highlighted beautifully in the Safavid, Ottoman and Mughal periods. They were used before and after those periods as well, but my favourite examples come from those three. In last year’s challenge, I focused on flowers from Safavid textiles that I found online in the Met Museum.

I wasn’t sure of which floral subject to choose for this year, but after spending MANY MANY hours online browsing online museums and libraries I decided on old Turkish plates! The flowers on them tend to be simpler and some of the plates provided patterns for more than one day. I hope you like them and enjoy 14 days of relaxing paint!

Images from 2020 golden flower challenge:

I even turned the flowers I painted into a collection together as prints!! :)

Join me from Sunday 7th March for 14 days

(until the 20th of March) to paint one flower per day.

If you can't make time on these dates you can still join when it's good for you. I will still come have a look if you mention me or tag me.

All the original images and the tracings are below and you can click on each to enlarge and print.

You can work directly from the photos, or you can work from the templates. You can work on any scale you like. My scale will be suitable for A6 paper.

Click on each plate to be directed to the link and read more about it!

16th Cent Turquoise Touches

16th Cent Frit Dish

16th Cent Underglazed Dish

Mid 16th Cent Dish

16th Cent Stone-paste Plate

16th Cent Tazze Dish

16th Cent Dish with Cypress Tree

17th Cent Iznik Plate

16th Cent Glazed Plate

16th Cent Glazed Iznik

11th Century Iznik Plate

16th Cent Quartz fritware

17th Cent Glazed Plate

The floral templates: Click to enlarge and save or print. (four more will be added in the next few days- Each flower is numbered with the day number starting with the 7th of March.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

PLEASE NOTE: This is a personal challenge and it should not be used for commercial gain.

How to paint the flowers?

First thing you want to do is trace the design in pencil and then transfer it to a watercolour paper by turning the tracing paper onto the pencil side and trace again. Once you have your design you can paint it in anyway you want. I usually start with one layer of colours or gold and then outline the design in black ink and a brush and then add secondary colours or shading. You can do it however you want and I will be sharing process images on instagram if you want to do the same.

Art Supplies for the Golden Flower challenge:

I highly recommend using what you already have at home, but if you really want to get something new or want to use the same things I will be using then checkout these recommendations below. You don’t have to buy new art supplies if you already have some. Always try to use what you have. You can also check your local art supply store for deals and other options.

Tools: Printed Flower Design, Tracing Paper, Pencils, brushes, real gold or gouache gold, watercolours and/or gouache colours.

Gold gouache or watercolour - You can try the gold paint I make on Bristle and Brush. I will be using it for this challenge along with other watercolours.
Watercolour (you can use any brand you like, but I use the Bristle & Brush paints I make myself)
Black ink (amazon UK link) (amazon US link)
Pro Arte Brushes (Series 101 or 202) or any brushes you own as long as they are fine and thin (Amazon UK link) (Amazon US link).

Share your golden flowers & find other participants on social media!

Share your completed flower on instagram or Facebook and please tag me on @islamicillumination and add these hashtags so we can all find each other! #GoldenFlowerChallenge2021 #GFC21

Take a look at the challenge paintings via the instgram hashtags #GoldenFlowerChallenge2021 #GFC21

You can also copy this caption if you like:

This flower is part of the #GoldenFlowerChallenge2021 #GFC21 by @islamicillumination
We are painting one flower a day for 14 days to practice our painting and illumination skills.
You can participate too by visiting www.islamicillumination.com

Benefits of this Art challenge:

Understand the floral language in Persian biomorphic patterns.
Practice your painting skills.
Practice ink and brush outlining.
Satisfy your soul with some art! (A golden flower a day keeps the doctor away?)

Things you can do with your flower:

Turn them into a card
and give them to your friends and family for all the upcoming occasions
Hang them in your house
I am sure any house would use a series of sparkly flowers!
Add them to other creative projects
Golden flowers are so versatile and you can find some use for them or include them in other creative projects.

Previous Golden Flower challenges:

If you loved this challenge and want to improve your illumination skills further, you can join one of the online courses:

For more fun challenges and future announcements, please sign up to my monthly newsletter, where you will get notified about all my upcoming workshops, art plans and all my inspiring arty related things!