Gerber Daisy by Krista Cooksey

Photo © Krista Cooksey

"Gerber Daisy" by Krista Cooksey. 9x12" (23x30cm). Acrylic on canvas.

From the Artist: What a wonderful excuse to buy myself a bouquet of flowers! I used one green Gerber daisy set up against a white background. I decided to tape off a large border and paint the flower large enough so that some pedals would continue beyond the canvas.

From the Painting Guide: It's probably because I'm looking at this early morning before my first cup of coffee, but I can't get it out of my head that this daisy is having a bad hair (or "shaggy petal") day. There's a lovely sense of looseness to the petals, of space between them, of them sitting above one another.

Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Sense of Depth: With flower paintings it's all too easy to produce something that's flat like a plate, where identically shaped petals seem to all be attached at the same height. Look at the overlapping shapes of the petals, how you see only the whole shape of the very topmost ones. And look at the variation in tones, the bits of shadow and the sense of sunlight coming from the top right.

Notice that the stem is in shadow, which adds to the feeling of it being underneath the petals. It may seem a small thing, but it's details such as this which are essential if you want to convey a sense of realism in a painting.

Composition: I like the composition with the petals going off three edges. My mind completes the petals, and it gives a sense of space or size to the composition that wouldn't be there if the petals were all neatly confined within the edges.