Sunflowers Plein Air | outdoor still life painting

I remember how much I loved sunflowers when I was a kid.  We had a patch of them growing alongside the house, next to the kitchen window.  As I recall, the height of those sunflowers was pretty incredible especially to a kid of 7 or 8 year.

These  sunflowers were painted from life right in my own backyard.  Painting a still life outside presents its own set of challenges.  The biggest of them, is the ever changing light.  I tried to counter act that by painting these sunflowers at mid-day.  Around noon, the sunlight doesn’t change nearly as quickly as it does early in the morning, or late in the afternoon.  It gave me a good 2 hours of working time before I stood back, looked at my set-up and concluded  that the light has shifted so much.  It no longer looks at all like my painting.

When it came to arranging these sunflowers, I had to cut off about 12 to 18 inches of the stems.  And of course I’d love to say that I grew these sunflowers in my backyard.  Planting seeds and watering as I had done when I was a kid,  but  I have to admit I bought this fabulous bunch at Whole Foods.

This painting is available. Click here for purchase information.