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Van Gogh: Project Wrap-Up

My idea for the Van Gogh project was to do a still life in the spirit of Van Gogh. I wanted to use the colors and subjects that were dear to Vincent, but not to try to copy him. I started by selecting colors and values from Still Life With Quince Pears and Vase With […]

Sunflower Progress

If you recall, the sunflowers I’m doing for the Fine Line Artist’s study group began as a horizontal sketch, and the vase had 15 sunflowers. The biggest change came when I altered the format from landscape to portrait. I’m also down to 12 sunflowers, which is okay, because Van Gogh also did a Vase with […]

Van Gogh: No Blue Without Yellow

In a letter to his friend Emile Bernard, Van Gogh wrote that there is no blue without yellow and without orange…
I started the sunflowers with an underpainting of dark red using soft pastel and then wetting it with water. I thought the vase a bit large, and that’s been made smaller. Next, I started adding […]

Van Gogh: The Opposite Effect

Van Gogh was influenced by the impressionists and their use of bright colors. He knew that a color would appear more intense if it’s opposite were placed adjacent to it. Primary colors on the standard color wheel are directly across from their opposites, which comprise the secondary colors of the wheel.
What’s interesting about Van Gogh’s […]

Van Gogh Project: Color Thumbnails

In my last post, I began discussing possible color schemes for my sunflower piece. Van Gogh is known to have used pieces of yarn to test his color combinations. I cheated and used my printer to create a sheet of thumbnails. Then I used some really old colored pencils to test some color […]

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

Van Gogh loved sunflowers. He painted them in the landscape, but is better known for them in his still lifes. He began the famous series of sunflower paintings as decorative pieces for the yellow house in Arles, where he and Paul Gaugin shared living quarters and studio space for a short time.
Vase With Fifteen Sunflowers, […]

The Van Gogh Project

During 2007, the Fine Line Artists are studying a different artist each month. Understanding that group projects are often more fun than solitary study, they offer an invitation to anyone who’d also like to participate. This month, they’re studying Vincent Van Gogh, and I’m having a wonderful time looking at masterpieces and reading about […]