PEONY PASSION - Energy Painting

PEONY PASSION 10" x 8" Gallery Wrap Canvas

Detail showing texture

PEONY PASSION
Original Painting by Sea Dean
10" x 8"Gallery Wrap Canvas

To view my Gallery please visit Daily Paintworks.

To create this painting I studied numerous artists methods for creating life-like impressionist peonies, including the Master Edouard Manet, my mentor, Julie Ford Oliver, and other Daily Painting peers. 

I prefer painting burgundy peonies like the one at the back in this painting and I don't have any difficulty painting them, but pale pink ones are always a challenge. As you see from my progress photos, this painting went through many changes with many pauses. I like all of them for different reasons.

The final painting shows the style I've been developing over several years, revealing the aura or energy patterns swirling around the flowers. You will also notice the composition and the vessel the flowers sit in. 

In the first version it was a centered composition which lacked energy. The flowers seemed over large for the vessel and I hadn't got the bulbous nature of the peony and the center right. I liked this version but I could see more possibility.

PEONY PASSION Version 2

FRENCH PEONY Version 1

In the second version I enlarged the vessel, added more colour and decentralized the composition. I like this, but didn't like the handle of the jug which seemed to cut through the painting and the bright table was drawing the eye away from the focal point. The peony has a good 3D effect, but in real life the Cadmium Yellow was too dominant.

In the final version I moved more towards Manet's bold contrasts which he in turn discovered in the paintings of Titian. I added more energy with the aura lines and bolder strokes. I added more texture in the flower to make it stand apart from the rest of the painting, and a changed the vessel size and colour. I paid particular attention to the way the flower was sitting in the vase, the shadows the leaves created on the neck and the height of the bloom above the neck. I'm very proud of the aspect. 

All these changes moved the painting to the next step, away from traditional and towards a more contemporary look. The colour scheme is also more modern with it's emphasis on Payne's Grey and Titanium White.



Cat # 14109 Peony Passion