Painting the Delicate Delphinium

A delphinium is hard to grow. I know. I've tried. So, when my client wanted a painting of a delphinium I knew they'd be a bit hard to find out in a garden. But, I found one and painted it. Let's take a look at the process!

The Finished Painting:
The petals are delicate. The morning sun created back lighting and interesting shadows on the thin flower petals.

Delicate Delphinium by Cheryl Kugler, 30" x 30", oil on canvas

The Composition:
Working from photos I took out in the garden, I began working on the composition in art class at the York Art Association.

Roughing in Colors:
Oh, to me this is the ugly phase of painting!

Making an Adjustment:
After blocking in color and beginning to work the painting, a glaring empty space existed in the center of the flower that wasn't as obvious in the sketch phase. The solution -- add an extra blossom.

Painting, Painting, Painting:

One last peek...

Commissioned paintings are always welcome! Let's talk.

Thanks for stopping by.

5-Day Art Challenge - DAY 5

Hello Everyone! Today is DAY 5 of the 5-Day Facebook Art Challenge. (But, why let Facebook have all of the fun? That's why I'm posting it here, too). A warm thank you to Debbie Lamey MacDonald, a Nova Scotia artist, for nominating me.

For today’s post, I am sharing with you several commissioned pieces – two fine art paintings and two pet illustrations.

The Dogwood Blossom painting is a 30” x 30”, oil on canvas, painted from photographs that I took at a local nursery. I am super pleased with the oil paints by M. Graham that are based with walnut oil and offer such vibrancy.

The painting of delphiniums is a work-in-progress that I am painting right now for a client. It’s 30” x 30”, oil on canvas. Again, I am using my own reference photos that I took over the summer. Not only are delphiniums difficult to grow, they are difficult to find to photograph! 

My pet illustration, Cake Cats, was a pet illustration commission from last year. My client provided photos of her daughter’s cats and gave me a list of interest of her daughter and son-in-law. Her daughter loves to make cakes, loves Gerber daisies and her son-in-law is a Bills fan. In-progress photos and sketches of this project can be seen on my website. Gouache and colored pencil on vellum, 5” x 7”.

The Santa and dog illustration was a pet commission for a past Christmas card. The client provided photos of her mixed breed hound. Gouache and colored pencil on vellum, 5” x 5”. You can read about the process of drawing this illustration, here: http://cherylkugler.blogspot.com/2009/12/illustrating-dog-gone-cute-christmas.html

On my last day of this challenge, I nominate TatyanaStarikova, a talented illustrator who I met during a workshop at Highlights Foundation called “Mastering the Picture Book”.