Large Vineyard Commission and Provence Sunflowers

Title: Provence Summer Sunflowers
Size: 12x24
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas

THIS PAINTING IS SOLD

PAINTING: Painted in my brush and palette knife technique with many layers of broken color and great textures. Click on the image to enlarge for close-ups. A sunny, vibrant painting overflowing with flowers!


This is the first layer of paint on this very large 36 x48 commission I've been busy working on. I started by laying in rather abstract shapes of vines, hills and trees in a wash of red and green undertones.

Next I mass in the trees and shapes with thin paint. The mass colors are a warmer green and I try to cover all the canvas in color at this point,leaving little white showing.

I work all over the canvas at once, painting cooler colors in the background and warmer in the front to bring depth. I use a lot of palette knife in this stage in order to keep my colors clean and to generate texture so the painting will be bright and sunny. The dark trees contrast with the airy quality of light on the background.
After this paint sets for awhile, at least a week, I will come back with lots of glazing, adding golds, yellows and warm reds in the forground and some details by carving into the vines with negative shapes. I also have more glazing to do in the background with my cooler colors and the building to finish. More to come in about a week!