Art-a-Day: sunflower

Showing posts with label sunflower. Show all posts

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Heart's Afire

"Hearts Afire-revised" 12x12 oil on 2.5" cradled masonite board, ©Laura Gable

I can't get too far into the year without doing a sunflower painting. This few day's effort was actually altering an old painting that sat around the studio too long. The concept was there, just needed a bit more for the execution - two flowers almost combined together to make one. One a bit bigger and stalwart, the other a bit closed in and nurturing. I enjoyed the way this painting has moved closer to my original intention to portray the two hearts afire, with more juicy paint and muted grayish areas, lighter and darker tones, more definite shadows. It says a lot about love and deep friendship.

This is painted on a 2.5" deep cradled masonite board.

A poem I recall from high school days which seems fitting today.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.

-Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Albert Camus

Monday, January 30, 2012

a simple doodle, colorized, manipulated

a wild and crazy doodle, original

Wild & crazy doodle, colored & textured in PS

It seems only fitting to end the last few days of the month with doodles, since that's how it began. So here's a wild and crazy doodle for a wild and crazy day full of numbers, errant receipts, and a wasteland that was once a memory which can't seem to remember from one year to the next how to do a simple excise tax form. Whew, glad that's over, and I'm a day early.

The image was sketched with ball point pen on a lined tablet. (I've got enough art supplies, and still I reach for whatever's closest.) I colorized and manipulated the doodle in Photoshop, and then added texture with the crosshatch filter.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Protective tree

Close up of the sunflower.

Tree painting, in progress

My tree painting has been in progress for months it seems. It's been "parked" in the charcoal state, though recently I had added the Buff Titanium gesso around the branches and applied Retouch Varnish to set the charcoal. I enjoy using charcoal directly on the canvas, as it is more tactile and has great movement, especially when using sweeping arm motion on a large canvas.

Today I added the oil paint color on the bottom, and a bit of opalescent shine to the top most branches. I don't use shimmer very often, as it can sometimes look a bit glitzy or cheap. So I took a chance this time. The painting's story is set in my Midwestern homeland, with the stalwart elm and earnest sunflower who thrives in the protective shadow of the immense tree...both common elements in that part of the country.

The spiritual significance became clearer to me today. Growing together in a symbiotic state, and interconnected, we thrive. We need each other. One could even attach a deeper spiritual connotation to the enormous tree -- who's branches disappear into the ether at the top. It's open to interpretation and I'm sure we all will see something clearly different. I enjoy the story behind the art.

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