After nearly 2 years scribbling away at doodles, I've finally ground to a halt. I realized at the weekend that my motivation had gone for this type of artwork. I've been painting a lot and once I start painting, every other visual art form takes a back seat. It's happened before. I put painting on the back burner when I started the zentangle inspired art and zen doodling nearly two years ago. I suppose the intensity with which I pursue whatever it is I'm doing at the moment tends to blind out other things.
But I always come back to painting. My most recent canvases have been of a large sunflower. The month of May was often grey and the light poor. Working with shades of yellow raised my spirits and brought sunshine into my studio. I painted the same flower twice, because I gave the first painting away and decided I'd like to have it! Below are a few more sunflower paintings done down the years. There are lots more, but the ones shown are the better ones! I hope to improve my watercolours through intense practice this summer!
But I always come back to painting. My most recent canvases have been of a large sunflower. The month of May was often grey and the light poor. Working with shades of yellow raised my spirits and brought sunshine into my studio. I painted the same flower twice, because I gave the first painting away and decided I'd like to have it! Below are a few more sunflower paintings done down the years. There are lots more, but the ones shown are the better ones! I hope to improve my watercolours through intense practice this summer!
small sunflower acrylics 40x40cm
big sunflower acrylics 60x60cm
I did not use a photo of the smaller edition to paint the larger one, so they are not identical and not like the original photo, which I took many years ago against a different background. I decided to leave out the objects in the original photo - looking at the two paintings together, I realize that I put the pole in on the right. I don't know why and I've no idea what it represents. The larger version might get some more work done on it, but not till after a break, so that I can see more clearly what else I would like to add (or remove!).
These are not my first sunflower paintings. Recently I did an acrylic version of a pastel I gave to friends years ago. Although I'd used good quality pastels, they were fading.
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| sunflowers original version in pastels on dark green paper |
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| sunflowers later version in acrylics |
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| the acrylic version hanging |
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| sunflower composition in oils |
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| watercolour study with ink |
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| watercolour study |
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| watercolour study |
Since I am not going to do zen doodling for a while, I will probably not update this blog until after the summer break. I haven't decided what art tools to take on holiday. At the moment I'm working on an oil painting that needs completing, and trying some watercolour studies, but in the south of France, where I shall be spending some time, the light is marvellous and there are plenty of flowers waiting to be painted.
Till we meet again, happy art-making!
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