Sunflowers

Now that our sunflowers are in bloom, I really wanted to capture their beauty with a close-up of two of them.

92.
Sunflowers
oil on panel
10 x 8 in / 25.4 x 20.3 cm
26th July 2025

It was a bit of a challenge painting them from a low angle, looking up, with the bright sunlight hitting both my panel and palette. To cope with this difficulty, I painted the entire time while holding an open umbrella in my left hand. It was also a windy day, so painting wasn’t exactly easy — but I loved it and enjoyed being fully in the moment.

Here is a photo taken on location during the painting session.

Photo taken in situ during the painting session.

Sunflowers in the garden

This is sunflower season – not only in open fields, but in my garden too.

Sunflowers in the Garden aims to capture this fleeting natural moment, when the beautiful yellow flowers finally rise and tower towards the sky.

It was painted over two sessions. It rained in between, but I managed to capture the sunny spell that blessed this spot for a few precious minutes.

The second session was completed entirely in the studio.

90.
Sunflowers in the garden
oil on panel
10 x 8 in / 25.4 x 20.3 cm
21st July 2025

The following photos were taken during the early stages of the painting – the initial sketch and the blocking-in phase, where all the colours are roughly placed.

Initial sketch: here I drew the main lines for the composition.

Blocking-in phase: here all the elements are in place.

As I often like to do, I took a photo of the finished painting in black and white to check the tonal values and make adjustments where needed. Below is the final painting viewed in greyscale.

Black and white version: a monochrome view of the painting, showing the tonal structure more clearly.

This painting, like all my others, is available to purchase on my website. 

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