Color Class

I had one and 1/2 days with my teacher this week. She critiqued all of my tone paintings and I began her color course. It is going to take me some time to process all this information, to say nothing of the practice in mixing colors. I'm really looking forward to many days in my studio where I can just play with color.

I'm going to have a couple of week during which I won't be able to painting. We're driving to Minnesota to go to a wedding. I am going to try to think about composition as we drive across the country -- What would make a nice composition and why?

Pearly Abstract

I was really excited as I set this composition up. I liked the geometric shapes but mostly I was drawn to the shadow of the tile and the pear. My original intent was to get the shadows to echo one another. Thinking the shadows would almost form wings for the tile. Painting this on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with my class this afternoon, I didn't have time to finish. If I finish it, I'll repost.

The tile's perspective is way off for starters. The tile is also centered, another possible mistake. I thought it would be neat to try my hand at foreshortening with the tile edge extending beyond the edge of the table. I'm not sure if the amount of cloth that shows on the right edge is a problem or not. They are roughly the same size.

On the vine

I'm really drawn to tomatoes on the vine. This is the way we buy them at the grocery store. I just love the way they are like a little family, all connected. Again, I'm not getting my darks dark enough.

Spill the...

Monday's painting was a challenge. I like this little pot a lot. It has an interesting shape. The glass stones were a very difficult. I doubt anyone but me really knows what they are. This composition appeals to me. I'm drawn to object that contrasts in their tone -- the bright white little pot on a dark table cloth.

On the Chopping Block

It's Sunday and I'm suppose to be having my next lesson on Wednesday. I had planned to have 7 or 8 tone paintings finished, but had hoped for more. I'll just have time to get the minimum goal.

I found the onion more challenging than I expected. I painted the knife blade three times, scraping it off each time to retry. In the process I moved the cutting board line -- throwing that off as well! It's all good. This is about learning, after all. My favorite part - the little shadow of the knife blade on the table. I often have a little tiny part of a painting I'm most found of -- quiet often it is a shadow.

Pull Up a Chair

What a great day ! I found this little chair at a thrift store and couldn't wait to get home to see how I could incorporate it into a painting. This is my first day to complete two paintings in the same day. You'll be seeing more of this chair.

Drawing the chair properly was a particular challenge for me. I'm also not getting my dark areas dark enough. I've learned a lot -- but keeping it all in my head and getting it to come out my hand is going to take lots of practice.

I think this is my favorite painting -- I was glad my teacher made a couple of nice remarks about it.

Sour Trio

I enjoyed painting this piece on Saturday. It isn't the best composition because the bowl is dead center and I didn't finish the lemon on the left. But I still like the way the fruit sits in the bowl. I didn't get the bowl edge fixed properly and worked on it during a session with my instructor.

Some students don't mind if their teachers paint on their works in order to demonstrate a point. I wish that were me. Once a teacher draws on my work I lose interest; kind of feels like cheating to me if I didn't do it myself.

Sticky Subjects

After a lot of wandering around the house I decided on these three rolls of tape as my next subject. I'm not really sure why I was drawn to it. One dark, one medium and one light tone. It was a difficult task for me because of the circular shape and the odd angles of the shapes. It was a good experience.

I'm now on a roll ! It is June 22 and I've painted two days in a row.