Behind the Painting
Red-Winged Blackbird in the Sunflower Field
Red-Winged Blackbird in the Sunflower Field watercolor painting
by wildlife and nature artist Joy Neasley.
During the Pandemic outdoors seemed like the best place to spend time with my daughter and her family, her husband and my two granddaughters. My daughter is a photographer, and the outdoors provided a safe place to continue shooting clients. When we realized the sunflower fields in Camden were blooming, it provided the perfect opportunity for a photo shoot for her, and family time for the rest of us.
It’s my understanding these fields were planted to attract doves and other wildlife for sportsmen and women, 10 acres of red sunflowers and 40 acres of yellow sunflowers were planted.
While my daughter and son-in-law worked the photo shoot with a client, my granddaughters and I walked the fields, taking out own photos and reference photos for future paintings. The sunset over the fields was absolutely beautiful. The girls played in the sunflowers until it was too dark to see. I captured some wonderful photos of them and a few great reference photos of red-winged blackbirds, gold finches, and the sunflowers themselves.
This painting is created as a combination of the reference photos I took that day. The memories as I painted of playing in the fields with my granddaughters made for an easy and very enjoyable painting process.
The foundation was created using a wet on wet layer. Each layer there after was produced with less water and professional grade watercolor paints on 100% cotton, Hot Press, Watercolor Paper.
Available in the shop: here
The black watercolor is mixed using varying blues, reds, and Burt umber. This enables me to create varying values in the shades of black. Water washes were used periodically to give the painting a more realistic feel.
The composition, I feel is strong, and keeps the eye moving through the piece. The red-wing blackbird is painted as if it is playing in the red sunflowers much as my granddaughters did that evening.
The red sunflowers in the background and the foliage are not as sharp as the blackbird and the main sunflower, allowing the eye to focus on the heart of the painting, the blackbird playing in the sunflowers.
I plan to return to the field many more times to create memories with the grandchildren, maybe even take my son out there one year. Each time I will bring a camera, and take new reference photos. While have more reference photos that I will ever paint, each new painting will need new references to help me remember the emotions at the time. In this manner, I can create new paintings reflecting memories at the time of the visit to the fields.
Available in the shop: Joy’s Shop
The original painting has actually sold. Limited Edition Giclee quality prints are available; 25 - 11”x14” and 75 - 8”x10” Giclees are being created for this painting. They are each hand-signed, numbered, and dated. Each is shipped, ready-to-frame. The sizes are for the Giclee prints were chosen to make framing much easier. They are sized in standard frame sizes.
I recommend using an archival quality mat with the frame to prevent moisture damage in the frame. Giclee prints are archival, but I recommend keeping all paintings out of direct sunlight or under UV glass to prevent fading.
