My Peony journey started with an attempt to paint two peonies. That was two years ago. When I look at my first peony painting, I feel I should have experimented more with colours. At that point of time, I was concerned with making the individual petals stand out.

As I painted more I realised that not all petals need to be highlighted. The ones in the light can be detailed while those in the shade can be left with general coats.

Next I painted this bright red peony to understand the petals of the flower in detail. I was happy with the result as the light shining through the flower is clear as is the shadow on the petals on the right. I was able to paint the folds and the waves in the petals.

I wanted to experiment with a different colour and shape of a flower. The result was this painting. I was able to make paint more petals, curve them, paint the stamens better than the previous paintings. The edges of the flowers are not smooth and this was painted using the filbert brush.

This painting was the next in the peony journey. The colours are brighter. Tried to add a bud to the painting. Also experimented with flowers placed at different angles. This study was quite useful and the learnings were incorporated in later paintings.

I was able to mix colours well while painting this single peony. The varying values, tones and shades resulted in this piece named Gaiety. Gaiety adorned my home and garnered appreciation on social media till a friend asked for it. I felt the vacuum inside me, the day Gaiety left home. I had to paint something to fill that vacuum.

The vacuum was filled by painting this peony with many more petals of different shapes and sizes, viewed from different angles. This painting was named Celebration.

Peonies and the Blues

Peony Garden

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase

Peonies in a Vase

Peonies and Roses in a Vase

Pink Peonies

Peony Love

Celebratory Peonies – A Fine Art Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

And the journey continues…