Sunflower Salute

 

I love the process of painting sunflowers!  Each brushstroke describing the turn of a petal is like magic, and the painting slowly unfolds.  Even on these hot days pushing towards 100 degrees, it is a joy to paint in the garden. I'm so thankful for all the grows on this fertile land. Painting number 4970 in 4970 days. 

Bee among Sunflowers

Even on a day so busy I can't sit down, there's time for a quick sketch in the garden!  Today I've painted in one of the many bees that attend each bloom.  The garden is alive with many insects, like a little city humming beneath the petals.  It's fun to watch this tiny world as I sketch, even for the brief time In there between Mom's birthday lunch and packing!  Painting number 4965 in 4965 days. 

Swallowtail and Sunflower

We've had some really beautiful swallowtail butterflies in the flowers, and I just had to capture one in paint!  Ink and watercolor is my chosen medium today on this miniature paper.  This is a great size when I only have minutes to get in a sketch.  I hope to paint another black and blue swallowtail that I also saw today - he caught my attention from across the garden!  I've never seen one like it before, but alas, my time is short.  Painting number 4964 in 4964 days. 

Sunflower Butterfly Impressions

We have some amazing Red spotted purple butterflies in the garden today, and I captured one in paint as it flew by!  I used my Artistic License to bump the color, to push the butterfly forward a bit.  I look forward to painting sunflowers all year long, and it's a joy to lay on that heavy paint!  This painting is now showing at Powell Gardens and is painting number 4641 in 4641 days. 

Sunflower Swallowtail

 

The garden is the perfect place for painting sunny blooms and butterflies! I've had so many butterflies in the garden lately, and these wild sunflowers are a magnet for all the pollinators.  I only wish they'd stay put a little longer, so I could study their marks.  This rainy day sure opened up to clear blue skies.  This painting is number 4634 in 4634 days, and is headed for Powell Gardens next Tuesday. 

Sunflower Dance

After a long day of garden work, it's fun to paint these cheerful sunflowers.  I see many paintings in the gardens as I work, and I always make a mental note.  Sometimes, I return to paint their beauty, but too often, they fade before I make it back to them. Oh the life of an artist/gardener - with so many balls to juggle!  Painting number 4628 in 4628 days. 

 

Sunflower Dance

We're still dry and this wild sunflower is fading fast, so I am painting it while I still can.  Focusing on just one bright bloom, I sketch out the form in paint before blocking in the masses. I'm using my altoid palette while painting the 7x5 panel, and turning it upright on my thumb box.  This is a wonderful size for the garden, and I can paint this side quickly and move onto a second.  Or, in this case, I have 7 paintings to frame and two to ship, so I have to get back to work!  It's time to pay the piper after a whole weekend of family fun.  Painting number 5151 in 5151 days. 

Sunflower Solo

 

Oh boy! The sunflowers are blooming like crazy now!  I look forward to painting these beauties all year long, and not storms or heat has kept them from their glory.  What began as a chance wild sunflower in this bed several years ago, has become a whole sunflower section at the front of a raised vegetable garden!  I thinned them out early, transplanting some of the volunteer seedlings to other beds. Two of these were blown sideways, and one has bloomed from the ground, as 8 or 9 stand tall and loaded.  They are wild and wonderful, and it is so fun to watch the birds pluck seeds from the heads as pollinators of all kinds flock to them!  With oil, I'm painting this sunflower now, after a fun day of working on the gardens.  I hope to paint these multiple times before they fade for another year!  Painting number 3887 in 3887 days. 

Sunflower!

This sunflower painting is headed to the Buttonwood Gallery for the "From the Earth" exhibit opening next week.  It's SO fun to paint what I grow, and sunflowers are a crowning jewel in my garden!  Since it is March, I have started two dwarf varieties in my Gardyn, and can hardly wait to have their sunny blooms inside!  They should have multiple blooms before fading - and I can hardly wait to paint them, too!  Painting number 3726 in 3726 days. 

Sunflower

Some days are so busy, I only have enough time for a miniature painting!  So, choosing ink and watercolor, I grabbed an ATC sized paper and started sketching. This week's heat wave has been hard on so many of my flowers this week - I am hoping they make it until things cool off.  I first use a water resistant ink for the composition, and follow this with watercolor.  I have water soluble ink in the TWSBI Diamond mini fountain pen pictured, and I use that where I want the ink to move a little.  Love these little moments in the garden with my paints!  Painting number 3116 in 3116 days. 

Sunflower, too

 

Oh how I love painting sunflowers!  I wait all year for just this time, and too quickly they fade from glory.  I am saving the seed from my largest head for next year's bed of sunflowers - and I will plant them thick for better painting compositions!  Lol!  It's all about the painting journey, after all!  Ink and watercolor on handmade cotton paper for this 2799th painting in 2799 days!  Wowza! 

Sunflower!

 I have several large sunflowers just passing their peak bloom in my garden.  This one is not a mammoth but another variety which I still need to look up. The seed face is lighter in color and there is a smattering of shorter, curly petals - which I find charming!  I'll need to keep an eye on these to be sure I save some seed for next year! I know those birds will be very interested, too! Painting number 2795 in 2795 days. 

Mammoth Sunflower

 Oh how I love painting this mammoth sunflower to the sound of crickets!  Their song is so soothing, reminding me of so many country evenings spent outdoors, listening to their music!  This particular sunflower is a showstopper this year - and you can bet I'll save the seed for next year's beauties!  He towers over this garden like a king, so I sketch him with ink and add in a wash of watercolor to bring him to life.  I wish these cheerful faces lasted all season long! Painting number 2785 in 2785 days. 

Sunflower and Bee

A little out of sorts today, I couldn't really settle down and focus.  I drew and painted three drawings before I was happy enough to post one!  I did the same thing last night, finishing two and posting neither.  Very uncommon for me, but here we are, 5 paintings since last night and this is the one I post.  This is also not my norm, not my usual focus or composition, and I've never drawn the bee from above.  The bees come and go, winding through those petals like they are doors.  So strange.  It does feel good to step out of my box and get a little whimsical.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll visit a favorite creek to double down on that focus!  Painting number 2058 in 2058 days.

purchase here

Sunflower Solo

What are more cheerful than yellow sunflowers?  I find I'm mentally taking note of each stand I find, to return another day and paint them when I have more time!  I did not even start with a sketch on this one - I simply jumped right in with paint!  Once I had layed in the masses with a brush, I then turned to my favorite Princeton Catalyst for the palette knife work.  My favorite knife was in my paintbox in the trunk of my car, so that also pushed me towards this choice.  I'm so glad it did!  I love the way these tools make marks!  I simply set it down on an edge, pull and lift towards the center, and it leaves thick, rich paint in it's wake in a way no brush could.  Painting number 1349 in 1349 days :)

Rainy Day Sunflower Field

Sunflower Study

Sunflower Study
Watercolor on aquaboard, 6x6 - purchase here

Today, I am experimenting with Aquaboard - by Ampersand.  It is an archival paper mounted on what looks like masonite, which can be sealed and framed without glass.  The idea is great - who wants to fool with matting and glass, if its not necessary.  The flow is different of the pigment within areas I first wet with my brush.  Is it because the paper is thinner?  I do LOVE the 300lb coldpressed paper.  I did not mask with this one either, as another baseball tournament game is soon, and there is no time to wait for “drying” today!  I’m on the fence with this surface......in fact, it makes me long for my oils and a palette knife!  Perhaps, I’ll get crazy with that knife tomorrow :) Painting number 909 in 909 days.

Fairy Party

Fairy Party
Oil on glass, 9x12
print available here

I feel like I am really getting into a groove with these fairy paintings.  Being so unfamiliar with the subject matter at first, it was hard to resist the urge to tighten up all my edges.  As I move from painting to painting, I am not concentrating on the illustration of it all, but rather I'm "feeling" with my brush and paint.  Naturally, my strokes loosen up - adding life and movement as they do.  The little figures are also getting easier and easier to lay down in the landscape.  I hope to loosen them up a little more as I progress through to the sixth.  I have had more fun with this one - in the zone until I had to turn out the lights!  Today was super busy - up at 3:15 for an early Saturday field trip with Michael at KU - the Future Cities Competition.  Then home with just enough time to change - and off to a wedding!  So, arriving home just a bit ago, I finished these little fairies in time to post before I drop.  Some days are just like that.  This is the 4th in the series of 6, my 390th painting in 390 days and day 25 in the 30 day painting challenge.  I'm hoping for a little down time tomorrow :)

Moon and Fairies

Moon and Fairies
Oil on glass, 9x12
print available here

Another day in fairy land - this time with the smiling crescent moon.  Fairies play amongst phlox and sunflower, while another rests upon the moon.  The subject is fanciful, and I found myself loosing track of time.  So immersed I was in my work, I almost forgot to pick up my youngest son from an after school project session!  I really need to set an alarm when painting, I can't tell you how many times this has happened!  Thankfully, there are leftovers for dinner, so I won't be pulled to that chore, and i am jumping right into the next scene - the one directly under this painting.  I've fully sketched it out already - and indeed it is half painted from the top down!  Once I have finished all six panes of this window, I will spray them all with a quick dry oil medium that speeds drying time.  The glass may just slow down the drying process considerably.  This third part of six paintings makes 389 in as many days, and day 24 in the 30 day painting challenge.  This latest challenge has flown by in the blink of an eye!