I can't take credit for this composition. I started working on some exercises from a watercolor instruction book. This is one of them. I'm really enjoying learning to mix new colors, especially the grays...they're hard to master. Having a sophisticated gray with evidence of multiple colors adds a visual depth to the painting that I really love.
Just continuing to practice... I had difficulty getting the pewter surface to "read". I'm going to work on some value studies in pencil before trying another reflective surface.
Wow, my last post was sometime in early September! Both of my children have been sick with colds and I've not slept all the way through the night in about 10 days! I feel swamped with everything that needs to get done. But today, I made the decision to just drop housework and paint! This smaller composition came from what was an already small 8.5" x 5.5" piece. I chose to crop it because I wasn't pleased with the original composition. At any rate, this little painting features green apples sitting on a pink depression glass plate that belonged to my great grandmother, Mollie. Wow, I never knew her; I wonder what she'd think about me painting a picture of it now?
Today has been a quiet day for the most part. I've had the house to myself and I'm just having some much needed down time alone! ...Having coffee, listening to music (that isn't coming from a show on Noggin), practicing guitar and of course, working on a drawing! Decided to just work on some sketching and did a life size study of my left hand holding a small apple. This drawing is on plain white paper with pencil. I like the way it turned out; pleasant contrasts of shadow and light around the bottom of the apple and palm of the hand. So, to enhance to contrasts more, I may do the drawing again using colored paper to serve as the middle value and punch up the lights and darks with white and black pencils respectively...
Well the last 2 days in the studio weren't exactly the most productive. This little painting entitled 'Pears' was mostly a salvaged painting. The green pears looked so great sitting on top of a large, red leather bound book that I have. Unfortunately, I was working on a soft mottled background and the colors went all wrong. So, since the background was botched, I went for a total dark background. However, it causes the lighting on the pears to look a little 'off' since the still life wasn't actually set up in a dark space. Even when things don't work out well, I still learn what not to do next time. Now on to the next one! : )
I have really been out of the loop! Homeschooling started back the first week of August and I'm just now catching my breath. Finally carved out time to work on a painting. I actually got frustrated with trying to work with fresh fruit since my "paint time" can be so sporadic. I invested a little into buying really nice artificial fruits from a local craft store. Wow, they are extremely realistic. These granny smith's are actually some sort of resin with silk leaves. I can leave these apples out for DAYS with no worries. Hey, I guess what ever it takes to keep painting....right?
This is an unusual red swirl glass vase from the 60's that I bought at an antique shop several years ago. It's so unique, and I like how the light and reflections from the candle flame play into it's surface. I wanted to do a high contrast background and foreground....and use the vase. With the addition of a plant in my studio I came up with this composition.
Okay....so I couldn't really come up with anything interesting this particular day for a composition so I tried just setting up a group of things with something in common....spouts. I think the background texture helps to round out the painting. I used a combination of kosher and table salt sprinkled onto the wet paint; then scraped it off with a palette knife when completely dry.
Here's the Red Metlox again...This time it's the coffee pot and cup with a piece of carnival glass in the background. I love the rich reds....thanks Winsor & Newton!
This landscape is the view I have from my studio space. The light was nice, but too early to paint; I hadn't had my coffee yet. So I took a couple of photos and worked on it later.
I have a large set of dishes in the Metlox Red Rooster pattern. The pattern came out in 1955, and I have the entire set that my mom bought in the 70's! The accent pieces are one of my favorite subjects. That's where the 2 bright red-orange cups came from. Everything else, was something oval or round and in the warm color family. I added the turquoise background as a compliment to all the warm red-orange & yellow tones.
Got inspired in the kitchen one day to paint these before I chopped them up for a pizza. The still life was a little bland at first, but then I remembered I had an orange dish towel! It added just the right amount of color to liven up the composition.
Another small piece inspired by a photo from a landscape reference book. The warm colors were fun to work with.
Finding time to paint....it's always in my thought process. I've recently decided to start painting smaller pieces so that I can actually have a real chance of completing a project!
This little piece was done one recent evening when I had the whole house to myself! It felt good to complete it without a single interruption...not to mention the threat of little boys eating my still life when I'm not looking!
Just continuing to practice... I had difficulty getting the pewter surface to "read". I'm going to work on some value studies in pencil before trying another reflective surface.
Wow, my last post was sometime in early September! Both of my children have been sick with colds and I've not slept all the way through the night in about 10 days! I feel swamped with everything that needs to get done. But today, I made the decision to just drop housework and paint! This smaller composition came from what was an already small 8.5" x 5.5" piece. I chose to crop it because I wasn't pleased with the original composition. At any rate, this little painting features green apples sitting on a pink depression glass plate that belonged to my great grandmother, Mollie. Wow, I never knew her; I wonder what she'd think about me painting a picture of it now?
Today has been a quiet day for the most part. I've had the house to myself and I'm just having some much needed down time alone! ...Having coffee, listening to music (that isn't coming from a show on Noggin), practicing guitar and of course, working on a drawing! Decided to just work on some sketching and did a life size study of my left hand holding a small apple. This drawing is on plain white paper with pencil. I like the way it turned out; pleasant contrasts of shadow and light around the bottom of the apple and palm of the hand. So, to enhance to contrasts more, I may do the drawing again using colored paper to serve as the middle value and punch up the lights and darks with white and black pencils respectively...
Well the last 2 days in the studio weren't exactly the most productive. This little painting entitled 'Pears' was mostly a salvaged painting. The green pears looked so great sitting on top of a large, red leather bound book that I have. Unfortunately, I was working on a soft mottled background and the colors went all wrong. So, since the background was botched, I went for a total dark background. However, it causes the lighting on the pears to look a little 'off' since the still life wasn't actually set up in a dark space. Even when things don't work out well, I still learn what not to do next time. Now on to the next one! : )
Okay....so I couldn't really come up with anything interesting this particular day for a composition so I tried just setting up a group of things with something in common....spouts. I think the background texture helps to round out the painting. I used a combination of kosher and table salt sprinkled onto the wet paint; then scraped it off with a palette knife when completely dry.
