Poppy Painting in Progress

I've been happily painting the past few days. I was asked to create a painting as a special Christmas gift for someone. I have used five different reference photos to create my composition!

What you see here is my first day's work on it. It has changed since. I've added some poppy seed heads and  a few more flowers. There is lots still to do on it, adding layers of colour and detail.  These photos will really give you a sense of how I start with very light washes. The lavender sweetpeas look like floral phantoms at this point but they will slowly acquire dimension and texture. I will also deepen the poppies' colour and add texture to their petals.

The hardest part of this painting was before I'd even picked up my paintbrush. I spent a couple of hours sifting through photos (some provided by my client, some of my own) and did a lot of thinking before coming up with a composition that would work artistically and also be of emotional significance for the recipient. I'm always a bit nervous doing paintings for others. It's important that I create something that pleases me but, most of all, them. I'm happy to say that I've already received a lovely note from my client about my progress so far.

It's not the first time I've painted poppies. I posted a long time ago about a painting I did on my honeymoon of a poppy field in France. I even included a photo of a younger me sitting in the middle of a field while I painted.

It's also not the first time I've painted a row of flowers. You just need to look at my blog header to see that. :)  And there was the painting of wildflowers that I finished last year. It is available in my Etsy shop as a print.  A row of tangled flowers is probably one of my favourite kinds of paintings to paint.

Wildflowers on 14 x 10 inch Arches 300 lb. cold-pressed paper