The spent sunflowers had a graceful swoop. I wanted to capture that before cutting them off. ( Don’t worry, we keep the seed heads for the birds) I had a toned canvas waiting for my interpretation in oil. Any time I work from a photo or en plein air , I always edit the scene for a pleasing composition. After simplifying this photo I sketched with pastel onto the toned canvas.
Teeny, tiny minis. They all are painted from photos I took while painting en plein air. I like to have these on hand for purchase anytime I sell in person. They are easy for people to grab for a corner in their home, to liven up their cubicle at work or to slip into a padded envelope to mail to a friend.
I received my first oil painting set when I was 15. I had been taking art classes in high school and learned how to build the frame and stretch the canvas. Then of course I had to prime it. The inexpensive way we did that in the class was with white house paint after it had been wet and dried to get the wrinkles out. Those were the times when exterior paint had lead in it. Not exactly what I would want to use now.
Thankfully gesso is reasonably priced now and there are also plenty of options for commercially prepared canvases. There are primed stretched canvases, primed canvas boards, canvas or linen covered panels, primed birch panels and unprimed birch panels. If you aren’t a traditionalist there are lots of choices for you now.
JP Dawes Contemporary Artist 