Another Cactus Painting

Detail from
"A Desert Family"

16" x 20"
Acrylic

I decided to try something a little different from the norm. I was scanning through old desert photographs when I discovered a number of close-up pictures of several different cacti. I was particularly inspired by prickly pears, Joshua trees, and Sedona plants. I researched them a bit,to become more familiar with their structure.

My goal was to create a painting that was loose and colorful, with perhaps a lot of contrast to give it a playful look. My studies led me to paint several different venues. Two of these I have already posted on this blog, including "Prickly Pears" and "Cactus Mountain". I am posting here a close-up of a third painting featuring several cacti highlighted with multi-colors. I really did not add a lot of detail to this one, keeping it very loose. It was fun to create. In fact, I plan to create another one as soon as possible, a larger perspective painting, featuring the incredible Joshua trees.