These Acrylic Flowers Will Make You Want to Grab Your Paintbrush

It’s now the middle of May, and here in Ohio we are in full bloom. I love taking walks around my neighborhood and smelling a medley of floral aromas when a slight breeze passes by. And although spring is tied with fall for my favorite season, nothing compares to seeing the earth sprout back to life with lush foliage and brilliant flowers after a cold winter.

Seeing all the lively colors brings me a sense of tranquility, which is probably why I am drawn to floral paintings; I can experience the serenity of fresh blooms regardless of the time of year. And to that note, here are five remarkable floral arrangements that beautifully capture the vibrancy of spring flowers, featured in AcrylicWorks 4—plus an inside look at Chris Cozen’s step-by-step abstract flower demonstration in Abstract Art in Action.

 

Anna Starkova | Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the Air by Anna Starkova, Acrylic on board, 12″ × 12″

 

“Nature is my favorite muse; it has so many vivid colors anytime of the year,” notes Starkova in AcrylicWorks 4. Color vibrancy makes me feel happy and excited, like during springtime you can feel more buzzing and excitement in the air, like everybody is waiting for something beautiful and good to happen.”

 

Mark Pytlos | Flaming Parrot

Flaming Parrot by Mark Pytlos, Acrylic on cotton canvas, 24″ × 36″

 

“Here I used earthly colors for the veins in the petals and for some of the forms within. Then I selected a black hue for the background plus added touches of mauve to convey the mood and bring out the vibrancy of the primary colors in this unique tulip,” states Pytlos. “After adding some final details with fine brushes, I concluded the work with an application of Golden Archival varnish to restore each color’s vibrancy. The fiery flame-like highlights contributed to the painting’s name, Flaming Parrot.”

 

Robert K. Carsten | Sunflowers with Swallowtail

Sunflowers with Swallowtail by Robert K. Carsten, Acrylic on heavyweight canvas, 20″ × 20″

 

“For me, color equals emotion in a painting. I like to freely express both my emotive reactions to my subject and the intensity of feeling I experience while creating art. This painting belongs to a series that explores imagery, from photos and life, painted against a random, totally abstract underpainting. This allows me to achieve accidental, adjacent colors to enhance my color effect.”

 

Kitty Kelly | Limelight

Limelight by Kitty Kelly, Acrylic on canvas, 24″ × 30″

 

“As I was driving by a home in Brockville, Ontario, I did a double take. I turned the car around, came back and met the lady who was watering her flower garden. I asked her the name of the huge, beautiful flowers in her garden and to my surprise she said peonies,” says Kelly. “Being familiar with the white, red and pink varieties, I was captivated with this wonderful new (to me) color and knew I had to paint them.”

 

Kim Ellery | Please Do Come In

Please Do Come In by Kim Ellery, Acrylic on gallery-wrapped cotton canvas, 30″ × 30″ × 1½”

 

“I painted Please Do Come In immediately following a scuba diving trip to Turks and Caicos. The colors in the underwater life there are breathtaking. From the coral and vegetation to the dense population of sea life, there was just an explosion of color and textures. As an intuitive painter, I find that my subconscious plugs into some of my favorite things I see and they seem to magically appear on the canvas. So when I come home from a diving trip, I make sure to get right into the studio so my memories are as fresh as possible.” 

Abstract Flowers in Action

Abstract Flowers by Chris Cozen

 

In Chris Cozen’s step-by-step instructional video, Exploring Acrylic: Abstract Art in Action, learn an array of techniques to complete an abstract flower painting from start to finish. Check out the preview below, then head to ArtistsNetwork.tv to stream her entire video series!

 

 

From color mixing tips to using stencils and mark making to establish striking patterns, you’ll love discovering where your acrylics can take you. Cozen even uses acrylic blooms to establish the abstract flowers—that’s truly “flower power” at its finest.

 

When it comes to painting with acrylics, remember to embrace the playfulness of this medium. Explore all the ways you can use your paints to create captivating art. Happy painting!

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