Dahlia Delight

"Dahlia Delight"
30" x 40"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Dahlias were in bloom outside the Walled Garden when I was at the Botanic Gardens last month.  I found this one swaying in the breeze and had to sync my body to her rhythmic dance to photograph her. Fortunately, we coincided on a few of them and I got a terrific reference photo for this painting.  

Amazingly, the background took more time to paint than the gazillion petals of this bloom.  I'm delighted with the finished piece, and hope you dahlia lovers enjoy her, too.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Winsome

"Winsome"
24" x 24"
Oil on wrapped canvas
She swayed in the breeze in the garden that morning, flaunting her sunny disposition to and fro.  She was more radiant than any around her, in spite of those purple, pouty lips. 


This dahlia was my focus for about a 24-hour period, during which time I thought of nothing but sunny, uplifting thoughts. It's amazing what comes of such a mindset.

Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
My Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Star Power

"Star Power"
10" x 10"
Oil on hardboard 
She had the good looks, charm, charisma and pizazz to be a star.  Miss Dahlia here was a contender in the Dahlia Daze Pageant. The lady had Star Power! 


I have some dahlia reference photos I'd like to explore. As I've stated before, I like a whorled arrangement of petals. This one seemed particularly difficult, what with all the hard-edged shadows, so I chose to paint her first.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by.
Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypainworks.com
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Dahlia Daze

"Dahlia Daze"
18" x 24"
Acrylic and colored pencil on canvas
I sat on a short wall to rest for a few minutes and saw the under side of what was probably a fantastic dahlia.  It was a "petticoat" view of something I'd normally only photograph from the top.                                                                                                                                                                                            

The painting went okay, but I lost interest in trying to create all the subtle texture in the leaves, so I reached for my colored pencils.  Exactly what I wanted!

This painting is listed with, and for sale through a Daily Paintworks Auction. 

Thank you for visiting today.
Carol

Dahlia Daze

"Dahlia Daze"
10" x 8"
Acrylic on canvas panel
Morning's light hadn't penetrated much past her face, when Dahlia stretched to her full-blown girth.  Night crept away over leaf and stem, and dozed in the mulch close to the earth.

I painted the canvas black except where the bloom would be. Crisp edges were easy to keep with the acrylic. Then I built up layers of green to fill the corners.  I enjoyed building the intense light and hard shadows on the leaves. 

This painting is listed with, and for sale through a Daily Paintworks auction. 

Thank you for visiting,
Carol