Poppies are my Passion!

I’ve been painting red poppies every May when they bloom in our backyard, and I’ve sold some, but lately, I’ve been hoarding them… As I finish up a poppy painting, it becomes my new favorite, and I just can’t part with it. I truly do have a passion (obsession?) for red poppies!

I’m forcing myself to not fall in love with these two latest poppies… but it’s been rather difficult—they would fit in so well with my collection!

They’re a bit different because they’re painted on Aquabord which makes the watercolored background more vibrant than what I was used to with my primed canvases. It was fun to see how the pastels worked with this new surface, and I have to say I liked how they turned out.

Here are three of the 6×6 inch panels with their watercolored backgrounds.

This next photo shows my preliminary drawing in pastel pencil with the first layer of soft pastel on the stem.

This is my studio set-up where I was working from photographs I’d taken of the poppies that bloom in our backyard.

This was the drawing for the next poppy I painted.

Here they are – about finished. There have been multiple layers of diluted PVA size sprayed on top, and they’ll both have a couple coats of archival spray varnish added to protect the surface. If you’d like to purchase one of these poppies you can click the Buy Now link below these photos which will take you a PayPal secure site where you can use a credit card without being a PayPal member — but you might want to hurry before I decide I just have to keep them!

Poppy on Blue and Yellow
6×6 inches pastel and watercolor on Ampersand Panel
$80 + $10 shipping and handling

Closed Poppy
6×6 inches pastel and watercolor on Ampersand Panel
$80 + $10 shipping and handling