A work in progress

An artist friend, Carol Guzman, came over and we set up a still life in my studio....

(Carol has a new web site - check it out at carolguzman.com)

still life set up in my studio

From our trip to San Francisco, I brought back a traditional rice cooker and fortune cookies from Chinatown. We thought they'd make a fun still life to paint.

I started painting a lot more still life when I met Carol. I owe her loads of gratitude for reminding me the importance of still life and the appreciation for it!

Painting from life really is such an important part of an artists growth. The colors and nuances you see 'in person' are very different from what you will see in a photograph.

While plein air painting (painting outside) and still life painting (setting up for a painting inside) are both forms of 'painting from life', they hold different lessons...

With still life painting you have so much more control over the setting up of your scene and lighting of your subject. You have the time to focus on the accuracy of your drawing, and time to compare the tones and colors many times over. You can really think about your edges and adjust and refine where needed -over and over. It can be a MUCH slower process.

With plein air painting, you can't control the sun and clouds - the light is ALWAYS changing.... The clock is ticking, you've got to get the paint down FAST...AND you might need to be swatting bugs or wearing gloves to keep warm...and oh, the choices out there of what to put on your canvas in the first place!

But inside you can control the conditions and keep the lighting pretty consistent, making it possible to go back and work a painting over many sessions...

So I love to indulge myself when I work on still life - enjoying the aspect of time. Appreciating the lessons that come with this slower process.

I plan to work on this painting again - and maybe again and again! We'll see how long it takes to get to where I'd like it to be. Layering, scumbling and glazing over dry paint can be SO much fun! (Remember, any time I use an art term you're unfamiliar with, give a shout. I'm happy to clarify.)

I have the painting 'over the hump' in my first session. This is a good time to take advantage of the luxury of time and step away for a bit. At this point, I do want to be sure all elements that I put in will stay. I don't want to have to totally scrape out or paint completely over anything if at all possible.

I think I'm there.

From here, I'll start adjusting.... slowly.

my painting in progress - oil 12' x 16"

 

Ah, the luxury of time.....

 

After I stepped away, and came back I thought.... should I add an element in the lower left corner??

 

So I tried some different shapes of cookies and papers.....

a possible element to add to the painting?

 

Now, I'm thinking maybe just another random 'chip' of a fortune cookie?? I think another strip of paper could be too much and detract from what I have now.

 

I'll need to be careful not to make the composition look to 'spotty' with unrelated elements. I like some plain space in paintings, but it needs to have interesting negative shapes. Whatever element I end up choosing (or not!) for that lower left corner area, it will need to tie into the shapes I have already established. Oh, so many choices.

 

What do you think?....

What would you do to the painting at this point?