Recently I've done a series of 6 paintings based on the lyrics written by Don McLean in his award winning song Starry Starry Nights. The lyrics were based on the paintings and the life of Vincent van Gogh which McLean studied.
My paintings are based on those lyrics.
"Flaming flowers that brightly blaze"
9 x 12 on heavy linen paper - done with gusto - emotion - and spontaneity of stroke and form.
Using a 2 inch brush I put in the sky applying lots of paint
Next I start putting in the visual representation of the ocean in the BG at the horizon line
I now start putting in foliage at the horizon using a "dry brush" technique which produces a very realistic appearing distant evergreens. I also am using "dry brush" to start putting in the distant grasses
I continue to build on the grasses adding shadow areas as well as brightness
Dry brush work takes a long time but it allows the artist to have great control over the appearance
of the area being developed. It is a series of upward strokes as well as jabs and stabs of staccato type motions. So I just continue putting in the the grasses both in shadow and light.
The lyrics "Flaming flowers that brightly blaze" refer to the sunflower paintings that Van Gogh is well know for. Van Gogh painting mostly landscapes but the few still life pieces he did are those of
Sunflowers
I need to go back into the painting a do some tweaking in the shadows and the light areas as well as develop some brightness to the colors in the field of sunflowers.
We now have a finished painting.
DETAIL
I hope you enjoyed this - as I can say that it is one of the most enjoyable painting sessions I've had in a while - for some reason this one was special.
Creating a painting from the lyrics written by someone who studied the life of a Master artist as well as the paintings of that Master ( who lived a very troubled life - ending in the artist's suicide ) was a new venture for me and one that proved very creatively rewarding for me
JR :>)
