I used cobalt and ultramarine blues for my sky and background, so right away this painting differs from Wyeth’s earth colors and conveys a brighter feeling. For the peonies I used mostly alizarin crimson with touches of blue for the shaded areas and a dash of cadmium red in the center of the red flower, which for me is the area of dominance. The background landscape is painted fairly flat in shades of blue while the darkest blue of the window frames the scene. The wide flat windowsill is left a very light blue to suggest strong sunlight.
Eric has been having us do color exercises in his mentoring class. A few weeks ago, he discussed Andrew Wyeth’s style of mostly monochromatic painting with a single spot of bright color. Eric demonstrated by painting a bright red vase of flowers sitting on a windowsill surrounded by a background in tones of raw umber and black (a color he never uses!). I had taken a photograph of these peonies on a windowsill overlooking Penobscot Bay in June 2023 and thought it would be fun to try painting it in Wyeth’s style.
Penobscot Peonies
Virginia Quick
St. Louis, Missouri
11″ x 15″

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