The Girls Just Wanna Paint theme for April is "festive". This is my interpretation. Throughout the months, especially during winter, I will often bring a bundle of sunflowers home from the local grocery and put them in the window. Each time I pass through the room, I get a little festive zing from their angles, the sun bouncing off the petals, and the reflected light inside and/or beneath them. Each flower has its own personality. I used a photo reference of sunflowers on my porch for this painting; taking what I needed for the design. Here are some process photos:
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| Reference photo: you can see how I adjusted the design for this square |
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| Blocking in, laying down the lightest and darkest notes |
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| Added in the background, a cooler, neutralized green; good time to carve out the edges of each sunflower; making sure nothing was too symmetrical |
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| More modeling in the darks, the leaves. I softened a bunch of edges, added dappled sunlight onto the flower below and the leaves, implying depth. Looked for areas to push elements behind other elements to create depth, and vibrated color into the center of the top right flower. |
As always, thanks for looking. You know I love your comments.
