Thursday, May 27, 2010

California Poppies


California Poppies
Originally uploaded by linfrye
Daily Practice
Journal

Visiting Montrose Gardens again last week, I was struck by the incredible number of poppies - California, Asian, wild - in colors from soft pink to orange to crimson .... I took dozens of photos - but no matter how I tried this week, the photo in my mind didn't quite match the painted results. I also wanted to try for something a bit less splashy and a bit more considered.

In thinking about this painting, I wanted to keep the background pale - but which tends to wash out in a scan. What impressed me about this scene in real life,was the array of yellow and green - the bright sunlight - the cheerfulness of the flowers. I may play with this image again to see if I can get 'closer' to what I 'see' in my mind.

It's been a busy week, and we've certainly enjoyed the sunshine. The intense heat has returned, but our 'yellow sunlight' will soon fade into the gray and wetness of more rain this weekend.

We'll be harvesting this morning and we'll all be glad to have the sun on our backs instead of umbrellas over our heads for a while!

Have a great day!

4 comments:

Teri said...

Sooooo pretty. It always amazes me how many different poppies there are in our world.

Lorraine said...

I didn't even realize poppies came in different colors -- only red! Your painting is once again so bright, cheerful and filled with great light. I love the shading and details on the poppies. Just gorgeous Lin.
Hugs,
Lorraine

Lorraine said...

Oh and the shading on the leaves and the veins too.
Bravo!
Hugs,
Lorraine

Joan said...

Love the colors of your flowers and how they play among the leaves. Beautiful!!

We had hot weather yesterday, clouds today, and nice days are forecast for the weekend. Have a great day!!