Flower Girl Reflection - Custom Oil Painting of Two Girls at an Ocean Wedding

With Spring here and the flowers beginning to bloom, it's a lovely time to share a wedding painting I did for a client last year. The reference photo she sent of her two girls attending as flower girls, showed them on a grassy bluff overlooking a picturesque ocean scene.

I love painting ocean scenes especially with children, so it was a joy to paint this piece. Keep reading to watch the progress and see the final version:

First, I make a sketch to lay out the composition. You can see a bit of the original photo on the right. The photo itself is lovely, so I only need to make a few small changes to improve the composition for this painting:

Next the sky. Wispy clouds soften the blue:

The ocean is a gorgeous color becoming turquoise toward the sandy shore. A few rocks jut out from the shoreline. I am careful to keep all the background colors soft and muted since they are far away:

Buildings and people can be seen in the distance. These are denoted with just a few flicks of the brush - no detail. You can click the image to see this a bit larger:

Next, I paint the grassy bluff with a mix of yellows, blue and white:

The area where the girls are standing is painted with burnt sienna, raw sienna and a bit of the mixed green. The color makes a pleasing contrast to the green grass:

Now it's time to paint the girls. I begin with the older sister on the left using a small brush to paint her hair and floral headpiece:

The folds and shadows on the white dress are painted with a mix of blue, white and rose. I use rose, yellow and white for her skin tones with just a bit of blue to denote shading:

Here she is all finished:

Now I begin her younger sister. Her hair is a bit darker than her sister's so I paint it dark brown first:

Then I follow with detailed blonde highlights. Her headpiece and dress are painted just like her sister's:

Once the two girls are done, the painting is finished. They seem to be dreaming while looking out at the lovely scene. So the client named the painting "Flower Girl Reflections," the perfect name for this piece!

'Flower Girl Reflection' 11x14 custom oil painting on canvas

---

I'm happy to take custom orders. Contact me for a custom painting of your pet, home, garden, grandkids, favorite vacation spot or whatever your heart desires.
To receive my posts by email, fill in your email address under FOLLOW BY EMAIL in the right hand column and click Submit. You'll receive my posts in your email inbox at the end of each day that a post is made.