Sunflower

After that dreary pear I wanted to do a bright happy painting. I settled on a sunflower. I am working from this picture that I took.

I am working on an 11" x 14" sheet of masonite. I had a painting teacher a number of years ago who wouldn't let me use a brush. I had to paint with a palette knife. So I decided to use that approach on this piece. The first thing I did was cover the masonite with a 50/50 mixture uf burnt sienna and lemon yellow.

I wanted a neutral complimentary background so I mixed a grayish purple for the ground area.

Yeah I know, it is not very gray. I am still trying to keep it happy and bright. Next I added some sky.

And now for the main show. Still only working with the palette knife I started to add the sunflower.

The image I took is not that great but you get the idea. So far I am really happy with the results.