How to Draw and Paint a Golden Yellow Sunflower
Before working on an oil painting it's good to get a better understanding of the characteristics of the art subject. In this artwork it's a golden yelllow Sunflower. For this art lesson it'll be done by using the outlined pencil image on page five of the grid drawing pattern. A pencil grid outline enables the contours or shapes that make up the sunflower image to be drawn more realistically.
You'll find on page eight of the Sunflower grid pattern material a blank practice sheet. Print as many practice sheets as you need to draw with to improve your art drawing skills which will help in acheving realism in your art renderings. With continued practice you will find in time that you'll be able to draw more easily many different artist subjects with more accuracy.
Drawing your art subject first is like placing a road map in front of you. It's seeing the whole painting from the beginning to the artwork's final designation or the first brush stroke to the artwork's completion.
Composition of Sunflower Oil Painting
In this oil painting a sunlit cloudy sky for me will make a good background for a large sunflower. From the grid pattern the sunflower can easily be placed in the composition any where and drawn at any size you'd like it to be. After some thought as to where the sunflower is to be placed in the composition the background features are sketched in. The horizon line is set about mid way in the composition. Distance hills roll up from the center to the outer edges. Hills on the right side of the composition are higher then the hills on the left side of the composition. A reason for creating the background hills in this fashion is to help in creating visual distance.
To split the composition and add some interest a river makes a good addition. A meandering river flows from the horizon line down the to the bottom of the canvas. I've widened the river along it's path to help give depth and distance in the art composition. Perspective lines also help the focal point give visual depth to the overall art work. Painting the hills in lighter hues helps with creating distance between the sunflower and background sunlit areas. As in most paintings what we paint is light, so constant reflection on where your light is necessary as you progress or else you could loose the effect of distance.
As you paint give thought continually about how the sunlight will be shining on different areas in your painting. What portions of the background hills, the river and the shores will be sunlit? Most important to ask is how much will the reflection of sunlight on the pedals and leaves of the sunflower need to be painted? How does the sunlight move from the sky area down and around the sunflower as it travels through the atmosphere? Think about contrast, light colored areas and dark colored areas, where do you want the center of interest to be?
Underpaint of Oil Painting
The underpaint layer is brushed on to make a road map more visual as to where your creating an oil painting. It's beneficial to know or have a finished picture in mind so as to tell what steps are needed to complete your painting. By painting an underpaint roadmap your also able to check the perspectives of your painting, where the shading and the highlights will be.