Vase with 14 Sunflowers - Van Gogh Copy

Copy of Van Gogh's Fourteen Sunflowers in a Vase - painted in acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 by Brendan Burns.

This is one of my favourite paintings by Van Gogh. I was in the National Gallery in London and decided to study it closely and paint my own copy. I painted it in very thick impasto style squeezing paint directly onto the canvas from the tube - this gives a heavy textured effect like that in the original. I added some heavy texture paste to the paint to make it even thicker and pushed paint around with the wooden end of my brushes - I finished the painting in just over one day - Van Gogh I believe painted it in a day - it was his fourth picture of sunflowers he painted in 1888.

I signed it Van Burns - the name I will now use for any future study of Van Gogh's work that I paint. There will be more - I love that style

Fishing Lure #2 - Acrylic on 5x7 Panel

I painted this fishing lure at the same time as the other one that I posted yesterday. I finished them a day apart. I actually started three hoping that I would get one right. Happy to report they all turned out as I wanted them to. This one is pointing the other way and just slightly different. This painting is acrylic on a gessoed panel.

Fishing Lure Painting - Acrylic on 5x7 Panel

This painting was inspired by a fishing trip a few weeks ago. I didn't catch anything but am always curious about the interesting lures and other things lurking in my tackle box. I sometimes think that fishing lures are designed to catch anglers attention rather than fish.

I painted the wood effect with a sponge using a mixture of ultramarine, burnt umber and raw sienna - then I dragged a dry brush through the drying paint to create a texture that looks like fine wood grain. The fishing lure was first drawn in solid black and then I added white highlights and various glazes until it looked like a metalic imitation of a fish.

It took three hours to paint allowing time for the paint to dry where I wanted it to. It was painted very carefully and meticulously as I wanted to capture fine details - even the hooks look sharp - I am pleased with the end result it's very close to what I was hoping for. I painted a few similar images with the idea they may appeal to a fishing enthusiast - maybe you have one in your home! It would look great in a study or on an office wall. If you are interested in this painting please email me at bburnsinfo@hotmail.com Thanks for looking.

Donut Painting - Acrylic on 6x6 Panel

On my way home on Monday evening I picked up a delicious iced donut and it became the subject of my painting for the day. This is painted in acrylic on a 6x6 gessoed panel. These panels have 2 inch birch plywood side panels so they look very contemporary. I like the simple shape of donuts and the variety of colours - not to mention the delicious and yummy taste. I think I'll be painting several more over the next week or two. And yes - I did eat some of the donut afterwards - just a nibble.

Donuts

Acrylic on canvas 8 x 8 by Brendan Burns

A friend asked me to paint a Boston Cream Donut for her husband's Birthday present - this is the result. He is a donut fanatic and they both loved the painting - I had to eat the donuts in the end, that was tough.

Flowers in July

Study of summer flowers painted in acrylic on cavas 30 x 30 by Brendan Burns.
What I like most about this painting, apart from the rich colours, is that when I displayed it outdoors at the Wickford Art Festival the honey bees kept bouncing off the canvas - they were diving into the painting making me believe they mistook them for real.