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Saturday, December 19, 2015

Back to work on the last sunflower


When I started this painting last summer it had a dark background because I was trying to paint all of the other plants that were around it. Somewhere during the process I decided to focus just on the flower itself and am giving it a bright red background to help me do that.

This is a small painting, just 8 by 10 inches so it will be cheap and easy to frame if it turns out the way I want it to and I'm able to use it for a Christmas present. I'll continue to take pictures of it from time to time as I work on it and add them to this blog.



After I'd decided on a background color I began working on some shading and texture with painting knives and brushes.



Once the background began to satisfy me I moved on to developing some of the other areas as I find some of my garden photos to capture a bit of the mood and the energy that there was when it was blooming.



I always feel that it's best to paint from live flowers but summer moves so fast that I never quite have time to do that. The other reason for this painting is that I give so much of my work away and when the last one came off the wall this year as a Christmas gift  I had to promise my husband that I would paint another one to replace it. Perhaps the motivation for that is what's holding back the real "flow" and inspiration on this one.


1 comment:

  1. Wow.. The sunflower looks so lovely! You've got a talent. The colors are so radiant and gleaming. However, they don't make a very strong impact on the eyes, and that's great, as I can look at the painting forever.
    Jonathan

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