Saturday, April 16, 2022

Alan fruit and flowers

 So I completed the produce painting. I liked it but wondered why I painted it. I guess I like still life. 



I certainly spent enough effort to paint such a simple thing. 

This is a sketchbook I made using a sheet of 140 pound cold press. It’s kind of nice painting quick sketches and studies on quality paper. And the backside has 16 more sketches on it  so 32 sketches on good paper for the price of one sheet for a few bucks.


Going back to fruit I tried a study of grapes. I used Notanizer for my value study and then painted it. 



I just painted these lilies on Yupo. Because indigo is such a staining color, I couldn’t do a dark wash and cut out the plants. So I had to use a looser technique on the background. 
It had a kind of nice Yupo effect however. I’m going to do this again without a colored background. 




4 comments:

  1. ekoApril 17, 2022 at 8:38 AM

    Well, someone's been busy! That still life is like a portrait of each fruit—they feel so round and heavy. I like the way Notan lets you see the grapes abstractly as well as in terms of value. I like the subtle, minimal colors you used. And that indigo really lets the lilies shine. Nice.

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  2. sjdApril 17, 2022 at 5:27 PM

    I love that pale background on the fruit still life. All the fruits just pop off the page. It was well worth the effort. The grapes are very interesting…idk why it reminds me of a Georgia Okeeffe painting …maybe it’s the swirling leaves. Maybe the grapes need a little more definition…

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  3. Uncle KenApril 18, 2022 at 1:36 PM

    Maybe I was asleep at the paintbox when notanizer was discussed.

    Don't you know why you are painting something before you paint it? Always interested in why people paint a specific image and not another. Would make a good subject if we had a few extra minutes in showtime, or maybe during the hurly burly of creating our masterpieces.

    I don't usually go for subtlety but like the colors of the grapes.

    I have always thought of indigo as not staining inasmuch as I can shove it around on the paper for quite awhile after putting it down. It is rather sooty though and maybe it sinks into yupo,

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  4. paoApril 21, 2022 at 8:28 AM

    Your still life is sublime. And the minimal background is just perfect. Why wouldn't you paint it? Yes, it's nice to paint on good paper. Why not do it all the time? Even for the sketches, it's a shame to paint on both sides. Those pears would look great framed. The grapes are great too. Interesting composition, colors, values, etc. Has an Asian-esque feel to it somehow. Perhaps the background is overpowering the delicately painted lilies?...

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