Yellow Vase and Oranges / 6x6 / Oil on Cradled Panel (sold)I try to get together with a couple of painting friends every Sunday for some camaraderie, art conversation and a quick still life or plein air session. A couple of weeks ago we painted this yellow vase and oranges, but when I got home I immediately wiped everything off. The drawing was wrong, and I had gotten way too fussy with a pattern on the cloth.
Courtesy of Don Gray's post on Friday, (March 6th,) I decided to give it another go today and spend more time thinking about the abstract pattern of the shapes and values. After messing around a bit, I said good-bye to the pattern and added the horizontal dark strip to balance the strong vertical of the vase, orange and peel. It may be hard to tell from the photo, but I also played around with my palette knife and did some scraping and blending. I often forget to use the palette knife as a painting knife, but when I do I'm always pleased with the result, so I intend to do that more of that in the future.
When I think I'm close to being done with a painting I take a photo of it. For me, it's like looking at the painting with fresh eyes. In the photo above I can see that the value of the reflection of the orange and the peel on the vase is too light. I also noticed that the highlight on the handle could be a bit more curved to match the curve of the handle.
I have to be a bit careful in using the photo, though, because sometimes the photo is wrong. For example, the highlight on the right hand orange looks too light, but in reality the camera has read the light value of the orange as darker and the highlight is fine. In short, the camera is one tool for finding mistakes--just like using a mirror, turning the painting upside down, or putting it aside for a few days.
Tomorrow I'll share another tool that I've found helpful.
Courtesy of Don Gray's post on Friday, (March 6th,) I decided to give it another go today and spend more time thinking about the abstract pattern of the shapes and values. After messing around a bit, I said good-bye to the pattern and added the horizontal dark strip to balance the strong vertical of the vase, orange and peel. It may be hard to tell from the photo, but I also played around with my palette knife and did some scraping and blending. I often forget to use the palette knife as a painting knife, but when I do I'm always pleased with the result, so I intend to do that more of that in the future.
When I think I'm close to being done with a painting I take a photo of it. For me, it's like looking at the painting with fresh eyes. In the photo above I can see that the value of the reflection of the orange and the peel on the vase is too light. I also noticed that the highlight on the handle could be a bit more curved to match the curve of the handle.
I have to be a bit careful in using the photo, though, because sometimes the photo is wrong. For example, the highlight on the right hand orange looks too light, but in reality the camera has read the light value of the orange as darker and the highlight is fine. In short, the camera is one tool for finding mistakes--just like using a mirror, turning the painting upside down, or putting it aside for a few days.
Tomorrow I'll share another tool that I've found helpful.
