You want to know what takes courage for a painter? A big commission; and by big I mean size-wise, as in really large: 3 feet by 4 feet of joyously blooming California Golden Poppies. The photo reference that my client had taken was of a small copse of poppies near an old 4x4 plank of timber. I could easily see how that scene had spoken to her and I wanted to capture the happy simplicity in this painting. I studied up on the structure and silhouette of golden poppies so my rendering, however impressionistic, would be believable.
