I agree with you about the strong graphic quality of the word, and IK love the way you have used it, turned through 90 degrees, as a contrast to the poppy. A great piece of design.

I think it works because the word is vertical on the page so you see it as pattern rather than writing, IYKWIM.

The vibrancy of the poppy needed something strong as a counterpoint so maybe you're 'not as green as you are cabbage-looking', as my Mother used to say. ^_~

It's beautiful!

Honestly, I was so busy ogling the flower, I thought the black was a fence behind it. It has an ornate, wrought-iron feel to it.

Laure, Don't disregard this piece. It does have a strong graphic quality.

Something I do at times is play around with drawings in photoshop and typed text to see if the layout works. You can then also play with size and thickness of the letters themselves.

The poppy is beautifully done!

Thanks, Dave! I'm pleased that it reads as graphic. That was the original goal.

Thank, Gillian, I had not thought of it that way!

Karen! You're ogling my flower?!! Oh, the scandal!! LOL, thanks for commenting...and for giving me another idea on how to do this.

Thanks for the idea of photoshop, Toni, I'll have to give that a go. This was one of those pages where I needed to get the idea out of my head.....and of course, it looked better there than on the page!

Laure I really like this piece. It reminds me of an art poster. Beautiful poppy both flower and writing - lol.

So beautiful!

I REALLY like it. I can envision a whole book like that one which would really help teach identification.

Dunce n o t! A great graphic piece. The shape of the flower is a perfect finish for the o. I agree with Toni about photoshop. I see the lettering a lively shade of gray so that the letters are there but just a bit more in the background.

I love the black lettering, and agree with the commentor who thought it looked like an art poster. I think it looks awesome--no need to feel disappointed in it. (Good luck with that laundry...)

This reminds me of an Art Poster too. I love it as is, But I do understand the feeling of seeing something on our heads and actually getting it out and onto paper and not quite matching up the immages. so since we cant see the head idea then this is perfect. :)

I like the drama of the letters. I think Poppies can handle that kind of attention. Great job to me.

hehehe...you're on a roll, but...I think it's cool. I love the intensity of the flower...and the intensity of the letters.

Interesting, Vicki, because that was the original plan for this piece—it's been lurking in my head for YEARS!

Thank you, Barbara! How are you?!

That's a cool concept, Linda! Thank you!

Thanks, Pam, I may have to try it again with other options.

Thanks, KJ! I'm ignoring the laundry. Which is how I got into the fix I'm in now!

Thank you, Cris, you know how to make a gal feel good!

Interesting take on it, Lisa! I like it!

Thanks, Kelly, it's definitely an intense piece.

Thanks to all of you for the great comments. I will probably retry this at some point!

You are so funny!!! Everything you do is just plain wonderful!!!

I love mixing words with watercolor and think this turned out beautifully! I also love how you got some nice shadowing on the lower poppy buds cast from the main event poppy.

I love it! I think I like it because of the word "poppy". I love black and white and red, (well, who doesn't?)and I think it looks great. Maybe you think things too hard?

Black and red go well together but I wonder if a strong cobalt wouldn't eliminate a bit of the strength of the black (could make it awful too). I really like the design and how you've done it. Actually, looking at it again, I think the only thing I'd change if I redid it is to move the poppy's petals to overlap the inside edge of that lowest part of the top P (does that make sense? If the P was right side up it'd be the far right inside edge). I know it stands in sort of for the O but you've put the O there so...

I'm a sucker for Poppies! Love this - very striking.