Sugarbowl and Dahlia Buds Still Life Painting

Sugarbowl and Dahlia Buds – 10" x 8" (25 x 20.3 cm) – Oil Canvas Panel
{Flower Project 2009 - No. 2}

Available through my Etsy Shop

One of the reasons I started the flower project is because painting flowers really requires a rigor in studying small distinct changes in color, value, and shape, something I want to develop further. Betty Edwards says in The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain that when one engages the right side of the brain you lose track of time and the ability to focus on shapes, values, and relationships increases. It is when the left side is dominant that one fatigues quickly of these activities and it limits your ability to draw or paint in a realistic manner.

Over the summer I have made the commitment to move more towards a representational style of painting, with smoother transitions and a keener sense of value and form. I still admire the impressionistic style of painting and love how they are full of energy and color, I am hoping to develop the skill of handling paint where I can use strong brushstrokes alongside the more delicate and controlled painting of realism.

With this painting I really wanted to go into detail overdrive, seeing if I could harmonize the complexity of the dahlias with the embroidered tablecloth and the sugarbowl. Conceptually I also shortened the depth of focus of the painting to the foreground and middle-ground, while the background blurred to an indistinct edge between the vertical and horizontal surfaces. The color palette is also predominately a complementary color palette of red and green with large areas of neutral tones.