HERE COMES THE SUN

(Click on image to enlarge)

Last summer I took a series of sunflower pictures at the farmers' market in Eugene. I finally got around to creating a painting from these reference photos.

I started by layering in a bright yellow for the entire sunflower. I gradually darkened the shadow areas. I used a cut q-tip and masking fluid to cover the yellow that would be come the stems in the dark brown center. I painted the dark brown/burnt sienna centers then removed the masking fluid. I was surprised by how much dark brown and burnt sienna I needed to get the three dimensional look of the flower.

The leaves are a bit abstract. I used a lot of blue green colors.

I like the composition of this painting, but my favorite part is the yellow dots and the shadows across the center of the flowers.