Original Oil Painting Sunflower Veggies

Sunflower Veggies

12" x 12"

Painted on Ampersand Gessobord.

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This is a photo of my still life I was working with.

Below is a list of steps for this painting and a little about the thought process I go though.

I start with a simple sketch and then block in the color shapes.
This is fun, seeing how the colors and shapes work together. I am trying to play complimentary colors off each other: blue glass and orange carrots, yellow sunflower and purple turnip / red onion and background reds and greens. My goal is to make this painting very dramatic and powerful.

Blending the whole thing together with a fan brush helps to pull it together. I usually tone my surface first but with this I just jumped in. I little pre-planning was missed but it all worked out in the end.

I start adding detail with the blue glass first and moving to the flower next. I use pre- mix colors for things like the glass and onion. It makes it easier to concentrate on the placement and shape of the color with that done first. Taking breaks every 30 minutes to 40 minutes is very important to keep my energy up and concentration sharp. If I try to rush and push through with out breaks things become muddy and I loose my focus.

Most of the detail is in. Now is the time to really look things over. This is the most challenging part of my process. Right away I am not pleased with the top of the onion blending into the background and the sunflowers look too fake. I need to solve some problems. This is where Corel  Paint Shop Pro on the computer helps.

I took a photo of the last step I was on and up- loaded it to Paint Shop Pro. I played with ideas I think might work. I like the way I can try things first on the computer. I save it and use it as a reference. This saves me tons of time and it is fun. We are so lucking to have computers to help with your art. I bet if  Rembrandt, Monet or Leonardo could time travel, they would of thought: these kids have it so easy!

Well here is the final painting. The last step is to check everything. I look at every brush stroke. If I do not like it or it looks too muddy I will put a fresh stroke on. I also added glazes if needed. Unfortunately with this painting dog hair was the main problem. I messed up the background trying to get a piece of dog hair off, yikes. So the next day when I was calm and the dog was at the groomer I repainted the whole background. What do you think??