“View from the poppies field at sunset.”
The poppies fields around Southern England are just stunning. And there are lots of them. They seem to be everywhere and I can’t remember any year with so many poppies. Usually they are just at the edges of the fields, but this year is special. And that is not necessary a good thing. The truth is that the weather was so poor for agriculture, that it left many fields with failed crops on them. Hence, the farmers allowed them to go wild for a while, so a mixture of flowers grew on them. Some rape, from the original intended crop, mixed with camomile, thousands of field flowers and most of all poppies. You can see bright red everywhere. So, I couldn’t resist not to paint more. For convenience and because it is a beautiful place I went to the same spot as last week. And I went there twice this week. On Friday, after the life drawing class in Salisbury and again on Sunday after work (yes, I worked another Sunday this month). Actually I didn’t plan it, it just happened. After a stressful week at work, only painting and cycling brought me back to a peaceful state of mind. So, to relief the stress and because I love painting, we went back for yet another poppy painting. I managed to work quicker this time, completely absorbed in the painting and with nearly no breaks and managed to complete the painting in around two hours, about ten minutes after the sunset.
I used a not so reduced palette, with titanium white, a touch of cerulean blue, some ultramarine, cadmium yellow medium and a touch of light, cad golden yellow, lead yellow, cadmium red medium and light, a touch of vermilion and Italian Cassel. I used the triple rectified turpentine – the smelly one, because I like using it more and more. I didn’t use any medium and I tried to use heavy thick paint, applied with a small sable brush – my favourite. I tried to capture the feeling of the place and the continuous movement of the nature, inspired again by my favourite painter, Vincent. Unfortunately, because of the thick layer of clouds, the sunset was barely visible, just a hint of yellow and a touch of faint pink in the sky.
So, here it is:
“View from the poppies field at sunset.”
Oil on linen.
30 X 40cm (12” X 16”)
