Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Follow The Sun?



Follow the Sun?

6x8in  oil on canvas board   $125. SOLD

I always believed that sunflowers turn to follow the sun only to read
that once they have bloomed they stay facing east (where
the sun rises.) It is only the buds and leaves which turn to follow the sun.
Don't believe me?  check wikipedia.

I did find out that their origin was Mexico and they are now grown
all over the world - climate permitting. Neat.

Artist Note.

I cannot imagine art without Van Gogh's sunflowers.
Remember his quote:
There is no blue without orange, without yellow.
Brilliant!





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15 comments:

  1. these sunflowers are beautiful, Julie!!! Love the background color as well. I've been catching up with all your paintings...Just got back from Tucson visiting family...I love your previous graphite..the silver bowl is outstanding as well as "apricots and turquoise"...very nice!!!

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    Replies
    1. Glad to hear you are back and ready to paint!
      Thanks for the visit.

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  2. I love sunflowers and this is another of your amazing paintings! I just love your work Julie!

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  3. This is lovely and Van Gogh would be proud. Did you know that the Sunflower is the Kansas state flower?

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    Replies
    1. No - I did not know that. Are there fields and fields of them?

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  4. Dear Julie, to see your wonderful GIRASOLE is real joy!
    Even my native land, Tuscan, as it would without sunflowers?
    As Italian cuisine without tomatoes!
    Thanks to the New World!

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    Replies
    1. Love the comparison...Italian without tomatoes!
      Thanks Rita.

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  5. Wow! Simply beautiful Julie! I love sunflowers also, they bring joy and smiles in our life...Congrats!

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  6. Julie...love the sunflowers- fantastic...& loved seeing the rattlers- live in Tucson & have had many encounters- at my front door, etc...last year my jacuzzi stopped working & when we opened up the mechanical area, there was on living in with there. pack rats had gotten in & he was fat & happy...
    do you paint thickly??? I tried the fracturing but think if you don't have enough paint on the canvas, the tool just wipes the paint off???
    thx
    Ruthie

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  7. Hi Ruthie,love the fat and happy snake story.
    My paint has texture but not very heavy. The tool is for removing the thin paint too and leaving just a bit. It is trial and error so keep at it. You will find what works for you.

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  8. None of us can ignore sunflowers. This painting is true Vincent.

    So with fracturing you are skimming the paint to whatever degree you think work? Scrapping to let other layers show through, but not totally? It's a form of blending without mixing. Am I understanding the process?

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  9. Hi - how can I explain...If you go back to May 2nd 3rd and 4th you will see the tool and what it does when I use it...put that together with May 19th and the whole process is shown visually as well as explained.
    The tool is only a home made shaper - you can buy them.

    A whole pile of us artists work with breaking edges, usually by swishing an edge with a fast stroke, smudging or matching values. That could be too obvious for the style I wanted so I had to develop by trial and error, what I could do that I liked.

    Hope this helps. I do appreciate your interest and encouragement.

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  10. Just beautiful Sunflowers! Love how you painted them!!!

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I love that you are taking the time to comment and thank you for it. I am sure other readers will enjoy them too. If you cannot comment through this format then email me at juliefordoliver@gmail.com
Cheers,
Julie