SUNFLOWER BLOSSOM and SUNFLOWER SERIES

SUNFLOWER BLOSSOM

15" x 15" acrylic on standard canvas

Okay - I didn't make my Friday deadline for posting this flower - but I was really, really close! This is the final sunflower in this series for a while as I have no more 15" x 15" canvasses! (Oh! oh! I just received a sale flyer from my favorite art store and canvas is ON SALE!!!! Wahoo!!! Maybe I'll be doing some more of these sooner than I thought!!!!) Hmmm, I may need to try other flowers as I need to wait until big sunflowers are in season again to get some different reference photos and ideas!

Here you can see the 3 paintings side by side. They look gorgeous all together!

If you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings, please contact me at jogiesbrecht@gmail.com They are $400 each.

Next stages of sunflower painting

When you are painting on larger sized canvasses, it takes a lot of paint, and sometimes a lot of patience. I do not paint in the style of some acrylic painters where the paint is thick and covers the canvas in one stroke of the brush. Instead, I use many, many layers of glazing of the paint to achieve the transparent look and "glow" of my paintings.

I consider this painting to still be in the UGLY stage, although it is progressing through LESS UGLY to the I'M GETTING HAPPIER stage. I'm going to leave the petals for now and focus on the leaves, so the next time you see this painting, it will look much better - like a sick patient who is on his way to health, but you can tell he isn't up to his usual self yet.

SUNFLOWER BLOSSOM

Bed-Head Blossom

15" x 15" original acrylic on standard canvas

Getting a true representation of canvas paintings can be very tricky. It bothers me that the background in this picture looks washed out compared with the actual painting - but I don't have the time to try to get a better picture, and it is too large for my scanner, so this will have to do!

I was going to call this painting "Sunflower Blossom", but after a visit on my blog from Dean Grey, I have changed its name. Dean said he liked the "bed-head look" of this flower, and I liked that description so much I have changed the name of the painting! It is now "Bed-Head Blossom". Thanks, Dean! (If you haven't checked out Dean's work, he has 2 blogs... you really should visit him here and here.)

This is the second in a series of paintings of Sunflowers. You can see the first one here. I am going to do another 15" x 15" piece, and then a few in other sizes. By the time I finish with this series, I may have grown enough new sunflowers that I can get more reference photos and start all over again! (insert insane delusional laughter here)

I also picked up some other flowers recently that I will be painting soon - some in acrylic, some in oils.

For those of you who have asked - yes, I will be returning to painting in watercolors. I may do some smaller pieces over the next few weeks. Right now though, I am trying to get as many of these acrylics completed as I can before spring. I am also planning on a few oils, and then I will go back to my work on watercolor paintings which have a poured background. Baby Giraffe, African Beast and African Elephant all have that technique for their backgrounds, and I have several more planned. These will be larger watercolors, and will take quite a bit of time to complete.

In the meantime, I am hoping for more beautiful weather where I can get out and walk in relatively "warm" temperatures. I keep thinking that spring is not all that far away, calendar-wise. But I am not wishing my days away... each ordinary day is truly a gift, even if it is cold.

AGLOW

AGLOW

15" x 15" acrylic on canvas

$400

This is my first completed canvas for 2010, and I am so pleased with how it has turned out. The sense of sunlight and translucent petals is exactly what I was working toward. Lately I have been thinking of seeds, and soil, plants, and gardening - so I think this painting is my subconscious desire for spring to already be here. I talked with my good friend Donna today, and she said that it looks like spring is coming early on the coast this year. A tree in her neighbour's yard already has flowers on it! Of course, that's not good when the Olympics need snow, not rain, for their events!

I plan to do several sunflowers in varying sizes of canvasses this year. Sunflowers are one of the most loved flowers worldwide. There is something cheery in their big bright faces...

(And don't worry, you will see the completed Agave paintings within the next couple of weeks.) :-)

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, contact me at jogiesbrecht@gmail.com