Sunday, January 10, 2010

Daily Painting #224

















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I was asked yesterday about my process. . .

Lately, I start with a red toned piece of masonite - from there, I choose a color which seems to kind of glow in the still life - it's not always the most saturated color, it's usually a color that catches my eye and I start by putting that down with a mark.

I then go around my canvas and put in a light and then a dark and then I fill in the rest of it from there at all different times. It looks a little weird at this stage, kind of abstract, I've been told.

I do not put all my lights in at once and I do not put all my darks in at once. I have to put different colors down all over the place to see how they'll all interact.

I was also asked how I stay loose. I think it's because I do not 'draw' my painting first. I don't even typically put marks in to figure out the composition, I just start painting, based on what I'm looking at. I observe where the objects hit the page but I don't mark it's outline. When I used to put marks in or draw something first, I felt my paintings looked too 'colored in the lines.' The way I'm doing it now feel more like building.

So, today's painting - I never thought I would EVER cut up a citrus fruit and paint it, because it looked hard! But last week at Page's studio she had half a pink grapefruit out for a still life. Of course, I avoided it the whole time but at the end of the session I had worked up the courage to try it only to run out of time to finish it.

So, this morning I cut up my orange, a snack meant to be eaten while snowshoeing and gave it a try. . .

Other news; One of my favorite people gave me a bunch of beautiful fabric (read STRIPED!) from one of the best fabric places, Zimman's, in Lynn, Ma - and in case you were wondering, Lynn is also the home of Marshmallow Fluff. Is Fluff just a New England thing still or has it gone national?