The Painting Speaks

I'm continuing my efforts to "dash off"

oil sketches as test tiles but sometimes the subject

matter speaks and demands more attention.

It's really a joy to become so engrossed

in the execution that time does not register at all.

Such was the case...

A fresh 12 x 9 canvas and a photo reference with a new intention: emphasize the basket of flowers, leaving the rest vague.

My first sketch had too much chair so I tried drawing out the basket and then adding the chair...a quick warm up to the warm up!

I did a rough layout in oil just trying to get the main outlines on the canvas.

I went a little bit further and set it aside to dry.

The next day I really got involved in the floral arrangement, even while trying not to get too detailed.

So the three pink cone flowers became my center of interest and the rest was left in a sketchy mode.

I really like this but I think the basket could get even bigger some day?!  

The neat thing about this scene is that I really did gather those flowers at a friend's farm.  I set them down to run inside and when I came back it looked like the perfect still life.  I snapped a few photos to paint later.

This is actually the second time I have executed this photo.  The first had a lot more background and it sold to a young mother who had seen it and returned to secure it for above her writing desk...she was setting the scene for her personal pursuit of creative writing.  

While I had meant to stop once I got the composition laid out, I just could not leave it.  The basket called to be fleshed out and the cone flower begged for center stage.  How could I resist? 

I wonder where this rendering might find a new home?

COLOR FULLY YOURS,

Cindy
p.s.  Not long after I wrote this blog the painting found a new home... also under the roof of a writer!
I really enjoy knowing where my work goes, it's comforting to know why the buyer fell in love and that it was (and will be) a viewing "experience."