It’s often commented at the art group that I do a lot of detail in my paintings, which is probably true. So for this oil painting I wanted to do something quick and stylized, still seemed to take hours, I just can’t resist adding a bit more…
The colours are largely used unmixed but lightly thinned which makes it a lot easier to return to the painting and continue without spending an hour trying to recreate a previously mixed colour. Although it all works quite nicely there’s quite a lot I’d redo such as a bright acrylic first layer which might deepen the colours and some more care with the geometry of the sunflower leaves. I can’t decide if the sunflower heart should be very detailed (in which case it needs to accurate) or stylized and simple. I’ll see if I can return to this theme with a version 2 sometime.
I did realise afterwards that both flowers have life/death connotations so perhaps accidentally there’s a very ‘arty’ subtext. I just think ‘Poppy and Sunflower’ sounds like a happy sixties folk group.