A Basket of Roses

Ever since I saw this painting in the National Gallery, London, I have been wanting to paint it. It is my tribute to the great artist Henri Fantin-Latour whose flower paintings are a treat to watch.

A Basket of Roses (8H X 12W in) Ode to Fantin
A Basket of Roses

There have been Dutch and Flemish old masters whose floral paintings too, adorn museums around the world. Van Huysum, Heade and Jan Bruguel are some of the famous old masters who created realistic paintings of flowers and were patronised by the high and mighty of their times. The vases with flowers of various seasons combined together on mostly marble table tops are the highlight of their paintings.

My personal liking is for Fantin’s paintings. The compositions, lighting and realism are all eye catching.

A Basket of Roses has pink, red, yellow, white and peach roses, all put together in a basket in an attractive manner. The roses toppled over on the table create a flow in the painting. While painting, I realised how many leaves were there along with the roses.

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Oil painting of pink, yellow an peach roses in a glass vase by Navdeep Kular

Mini Rose Paintings

Oil painting of red roses in a copper vase by Navdeep Kular

Red Roses in a Copper Vase

Oil painting of pink, yellow an peach roses in a glass vase by Navdeep Kular

Roses in a Glass Vase

Yellow roses still life oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Yellow Roses in a Copper Vase

Still Life oil painting of pink roses in white vase by Navdeep Kular

Pink Roses in a White Vase

This is how the four small paintings put together look.

You can view all my roses paintings here.

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Wildflowers oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Floral Landscape Oil Paintings

The following floral landscape paintings are the result of beautiful reference pictures. The colourful paintings are sure to uplift your mood and bring nature indoors.

Wildflowers oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Floral Landscape 1

The joy of painting one floral landscape was not enough for me to forgo it. So here comes another one. There is fine balance between the warm and cool colours in these oil paintings.

Wildflowers oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Floral Landscape 2

I thoroughly enjoyed painting wildflowers in impressionistic manner. I sometimes wonder whether I should have blurred the edges of the distance mountains to push them back a bit.

This is how the two paintings put together look.

 

I hope you enjoy viewing these paintings as much as I have while painting them.

Impressionist tulip fields oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Tulip Fields Landscape Oil Painting

Impressionist tulip fields oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Tulip Fields

Oil on Canvas

11H x 14W

Tulip fields have been painted in an impressionistic manner in this painting. The colourful tulip beds seem to merge into the horizon. The giant windmill and country cottages provide a backdrop to floral fields. I am grateful to dear aunt for sending me a reference photograph that served as an inspiration for this painting.

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floral painting original peonies painting by Navdeep Kular

Celebratory Peonies – A Fine Art Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

original peonies painting by Navdeep Kular

Celebratory Peonies

 

After painting many small peony paintings, I was still not done with the peonies. As a result Celebratory Peonies came into being. I have put together peonies of many colours and sizes in this painting. The flowers and buds have been placed at varying angles. I love flowers popping out against a dark background in this painting. I have added many buds; closed and semi open in this painting along with the flowers which serve as eye magnets.

Oil on Canvas

18H x 24W

Peonies oil painting by Navdeep Kular

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floral painting peonies oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peony Love

peonies oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peony Love

 

Oil on Canvas

10H x 8W

Original peonies oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Another peony painting. I am always enamoured by the beauty and scent of peonies. Peony Love is an original oil painting in vibrant colours. It is an attempt to capture the beauty of these gorgeous flowers.

  

floral painting Pink Peonies oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Pink Peonies

 

Pink Peonies oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Pink Peonies

There are still more peony paintings on the way. A card given by a dear cousin served as reference picture for this peony painting. The dark leaves and colour of the vase provide ample contrast to the peonies. Another highlight of the painting is the yellow colour shining through pink petals.

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Daffodils Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

Daffodils in a Blue Jug

Springtime gives an opportunity to paint different flowers. Mother earth is decorated with flowers of various colours, textures and sheens. I have been busy soaking in as much beauty of nature as possible. Spent the time admiring flowers and foliage. The different shapes and colours of leaves too intrigue me. The flowering trees add their own persona to the landscape. Tried to capture as many pictures as possible. Many memories of beautiful landscapes are embedded deep in the mind. They periodically come out in the form of paintings. I wanted to paint a blue jug and thought daffodils would go well with it. So here is the end result.

Daffodils Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

Serenity

Placed the composition by the window side on a wooden cabinet. Mixed ultramarine blue with crimson lake to paint the shadow side of the jug. For the base added a little bit of cobalt blue. With highlights and shine on the jug was able to define its roundness. Experimented with a few colours for the wooden cabinet and ultimately settled with the present one. Painted the lacy mat underneath the jug. The dark background compliments the light flowers.

Named this painting Serenity. Hope you like it.

floral painting Pink peonies in a vase oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies in a Vase

Pink peonies in a vase oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies in a Vase

The beauty of peonies prompts me to paint these flowers again and again. A card given by a dear cousin was an inspiration for this painting. The challenge was to make the peonies stand out on a light background. In the end, I was able to illustrate the volume of numerous petals of peonies. I like the fluffiness of peonies, the roundness of vase and the sharp front edge of table in this painting. The shadows of the leaves lift them in the air. The cool colour palette of the foreground and middle ground has been contrasted with a tinge of yellow in the background.

Peonies in a Vase

Oil on Canvas

11 X 14

Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies and Blue Vases Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies and the Blues

Painting is a skill in which finesse comes only through practice and hard work. It is an intrinsic knowledge which gets embedded deep inside as one progresses on the learning curve. Elementary knowledge can be gained through secondary sources regarding the tools and techniques of oil painting but the learning comes only by doing it. What colours to use, what amount to mix, which medium to add, how to apply colours, which brushes to use, impact and direction of brushstrokes; one gets better and better at it through each painting.

As I was painting flowers in a vase, I realised how much I enjoyed painting the vase. The idea to paint more than one vase in a single painting occurred at that point of time. That is how the following two paintings came into being.

Peonies and Blue Vases oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies and the Blues 1

I wanted to mix the blues and experiment with different shapes of the vases. These paintings gave me ample opportunity to do so. Cobalt, ultramarine, Prussian blue were mixed with viridian hue, lemon yellow and titanium white for various vases. It was fun to paint the highlights on the vases. Once the vases were painted, I felt like painting some flowers in them. So added the peonies in one of the vases in each painting.

Peonies and Blue Vases Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies and the Blues 2

The colour of the background is in contrast to those of the vases. The table and the background were painted using the same three colours i.e. crimson lake, ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow. How  the ratio of the colours in the mix can yield a vastly different end result is apparent from this study.

This is how the two paintings put together side by side look.

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floral painting Roses, Tulips and Daffodils in a Glass Vase (22H X 15W in) oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Roses, Tulips and Daffodils in a Glass Vase

 

Roses, tulips and daffodils have been painted in a glass vase. The two images above show how an oil painting can be transformed. More depth has been added in the painting using various tones, tints, values and hues to depict the lit and shadow areas of flowers.

The shape of some flowers has been varied to incorporate the three dimensional effect. Two of the poppies in the original painting have been transformed into tulips. The foliage has been redone. The whites of the daisies have many more colours now.

The vase has been placed on a table. The transparent glass vase and the dark wood table provide a contrast in the painting. The background colour has been changed. The colour of the table and the background is visible through the glass vase. All this has resulted in a vibrant painting.

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floral painting Peonies in a Turquoise Vase oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase

Oil on Canvas (14H X 11W)

Peonies with their multiple petals are fun to paint. Painting one turquoise vase was not enough for me, so I painted these peonies in one.

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase is an original oil painting. Peonies have been placed in such a manner that each flower is tilted at a different angle. Dark wood table contrasts the light background.

The mixing of crimson lake, ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow leads to many colours and I keep experimenting with them. The different wood colours ranging from yellowish to fawn to light brown to blackish brown, can all be obtained by the use of primary colours. Also painting the shadows is as much fun as painting the highlights. The variation of values in the shadows leads to three dimensional effect. The negative painting sharpens the edges.

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red roses in a turquoise vase original oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Still Life with Red Roses

 

red roses in a turquoise vase original oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Red Roses in a Turquoise Vase

Another painting of red roses. Red roses in a turquoise vase is an original oil painting. The central focal point of this painting is the highlight on turquoise vase on the right. I like the gloss on the vase in this painting. I tried to achieve asymmetrical balance in this composition by placing a big vase on the right and balancing it with a bowl of fruits on the left. The colours red and orange are close to each other on the colour wheel, still I have experimented with placing them together.

Enjoyed painting the folds of white curtain in the background. I painted the window with adding whites, greys and little bit of brown to warm it up. I rarely use paint directly from the tube. It is too much fun mixing the basic colours and generating innumerable hues with them. The iris flowers in the wall hangings have been painted with blurred edges. The background colour was mixed using viridian hue with lemon yellow and lit bit of titanium white.

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