I carried this stack of stuff into my studio and set it on the table. It was a cockscomb flower, a container holding my salad, a notepad and a stack of books. I looked at it and with the colours, shapes and angles it looked like a pretty exciting subject to paint (that orange on the Richard Diebenkorn book was the icing on the cake).
I did this subject a month ago and wanted to re-visit it. Something quite intoxicating about the form of a violin - curvy shapes and swirls contrasting with hard, straight edges. Complex and fun. The wood colour is an interesting challenge too. I find the colours of what I'm actually seeing are much richer than what I think they would be if I let my mind slip into auto-pilot.
Don't worry - I'm not drinking these every night ; )
For this piece I tried something new. I used clear gesso on masonite, so the surface was a dark brown. And then instead of painting a coloured ground, I painted directly over the clear-gessoed surface. I liked the way it worked up. After this one, I did a close-up of a peony in oil. After an hour I realized it clearly was not happening and wiped it down. Then I went back to my acrylics and worked for another hour on some fruit. Again - one for the heap. C'est la vie.
So...the green bottle is gone. And it feels better. I've learned a lot from painting this. Can't wait for the next one! The white flowers are "snowballs" from our snowball bush. I love how they fall. And I just wanted to thank everyone for their encouragement and enthusiasm on my behalf regarding this painting - thanks! Comments really help spur you forward, no? Oh - and by the way - I set this up in my studio and that painting in the background is this one. I wish a lovely weekend for each and everyone of you : ) 
I've begun a large still life, feeling enthusiasm from my workshop (see May 15th post). Right now we have a snowball bush in blossom and the irises have bloomed as well. They look lush and heavy and I was dying to paint them. It took a bit to set-up, but I'm having fun!
I was working on a piece I did earlier in the week that needed some fixing and completely botched the thing. I finally wiped it down and felt much better. Then I looked around the studio for something to paint and grabbed this mason jar. Turned out much better than the thing I'd been labouring over : )
So this was what I accomplished at Laurie's workshop today. I really wanted more time - there are things I didn't get to and will work on/fix up next week, primarily work on the floor. I painted on a new surface for me: clear-gessoed wood. This was interesting and your brush strokes show a bit more. A little odd at first but I was liking it as time progressed. I posted two close-ups of my favourite bits. Something Laurie said, which echoes what Carol Marine said, is that it can take a LONG time to set-up a still life. But not to take a short-cut. I now have this drilled in my head and will go forth accordingly : )
Is there a more luscious-looking fruit than the pomegranate? All rough and tumble on the outside and a sparkling mass of rubies on the inside! I love the contrast, the decadence and of course the pleasure of crunching into the jewelled berries once you break it open. Yum!
This is the last piece I painted at the workshop. It was a high-key painting of grapes in a white bowl. Unfortunately, I kept losing the shape of my bowl thus it ended up looking a bit wonky. I also blended more than I wanted to. I've got the info in my head - it's just the problem of getting it to all come out consistently! Argh! : ) But it will come. Careful observation! I also realized that I need to be fully alert and energetic when beginning to paint. This may seem obvious, but really, if you get lazy, it goes south pretty quickly!
So I started with a lovely little drawing and everything was swimming along nicely. The radish was foreshortened well and everything looked pretty solid. But when I began to paint, I started losing control. I hate that! I tried to put on the brakes but things were getting mucked up. The radish was giving me the most trouble. Damn thing. And I think I should have slanted it the other way for a stronger composition. Thoughts? In the end, I can say...I truly love the blackberries!
Today I had fun - it all came together the way I was hoping. Why oh why can't that happen all the time : ) ? I did switch up my brushes - I jumped to my new size 18 flat even though the canvas is only a 6"x6". But it worked. I prefer painting with large brushes but I didn't think I would have the control I needed with a large brush on a smallish canvas. I'll have to keep experimenting. Anyway, yay!
