Lest We Forget - The Afghan Years III

Poppies 11624, 12 inches by 24 inches, acrylic on canvas

Leading up to November 11th Veteran's Day, this is my third post showcasing the third painting in this series  dedicated to those fallen Canadian soldiers.  I have been meaning to paint a special series of poppies for a couple of years now.  The seeds of this idea were planted after reading this book "Fifteen Days" by Christie Blatchford:   I have a friend named Brent Ginther who made it back home to his family after being severely injured and losing his friends on one of those fifteen days Christie describes in this book. The bravery of these soldiers is astounding and humbling at the same time.  

Rest in peace Christie, a courageous journalist!  

   I have to explain about the not so great pics, I took them only for myself as I was trying some new materials and techniques and wanted to note what worked and what didn't for future paintings.  Then I decided to share afterwards so they are what they are ha.  Getting the sketch and composition worked out here:

Now for some color!  As you can see in the second pic I came to regret that paint pen as it just bled and made a mess.  A few coats of paint and gesso fixed that issue while painting in the base colors.
Second last pic with the "crazy yellow" is a method to set up one more transparent layer of red after the yellow dries.  Once again I like to paint backlit subjects, it is the common lighting in most of my paintings.