Classic Sunflowers

Classic Sunflowers
12 x 16 Oil Painting
 by Pat Fiorello
 $750

 Earlier this week I bought some sunflowers at the local Fresh Market and set them up in my studio for a still life painting.  Sunflowers are fun to paint, but can also be a little overwhelming if you try to get every petal exactly as they are.

It's helpful to orient the flowers facing in different directions, some facing more towards the front views, some with side views, some more in light and some more in shadow. I chose to go with a dark background because I was looking for a more dramatic, classic feel for this painting.

Initially the entire background was dark, but before I finished it felt too dark, so I did a bit of a gradation from dark towards a bit lighter (added some Naples Yellow to my dark mixture) from left to right to give it a little more atmosphere and soften the contrast on the shadow side.

The set up

The initial block in

Starting to lay in color