Irises and peonies - oil painting

During May, we went to the North of France and I had time to paint outside. The “Walled garden”study is the first painting I did during the week. This was a quick painting done with the intent to come back to the garden and paint a bigger and more elaborate work. It was also a sort of warm-up, as I had not painted from nature for some time.

The walled garden is only a few metres from the house we were staying in. It is a beautiful place with fruit trees, irisses, peonies and a well maintained vegetable patch. There are always birds flying around.

“Walled garden” study - Oil on board by Benoit Philippe

The second work was painted at the end of the week. By that time, I had worked on several small paintings and it shows: I was "in the flow". I chose a different angle to use the path as the device to lead the eye towards the house behind the wall.

“Irises and peonies” - Oil on Canvas by Benoit Philippe