There is nothing better than home grown tomatoes. They are good enough to paint! I began with an acrylic paint wash of raw sienna. I used the acrylic to tone the canvas because it dries faster and gives the canvas a smoother surface. I thought the composition would have been worked out with the underpainting/toning stage, but due to the complexity of the ceramic dish I also did a pencil sketch and made measurements to make sure the image was centered and in correct proportions.
In my last painting I spoke of my struggle to "loosen" up my style. I had several tips from fellow artists and one experiment was suggested by artist Rick Nilson from N.C. His suggestion was to place a board a couple of feet away from my easel ( or arm's length) and stand behind it to paint. The object of course is to keep my nose out of the painting! A few times I ended up standing on the board, but as I got used to it, began to catch and correct myself. I did paint most of the painting this way, not until the end when a few details were necessary did I remove the board.
Click on image to enlarge.8"x 6" oil on RayMar canvas panel.
You can see that I did not "loosen" up significantly this time, but I think if I continue this exercise it will help. I know I had to work harder to paint the way I usually paint, so after a while I'll just give up and quit trying for so much detail. I still like this painting very much and hope you enjoy viewing it. And thanks Rick for you insightful help and suggestion.
2 comments:
Marilyn,
It was really frustrating for me when I started the board thing. I am glad you stuck with it. With the fancy drawing it must have been hard to stay inside the lines.
Get it?
Congradulations,you came out on top, congradulations, you never did know when to stop.
Rick,
I must say, your comments always require a little bit of pondering.
By the way it's "congratulations" (I'm always misspelling that word!)
I don't always use a pencil sketch. I actually prefer to do a brush and paint sketch but I needed to make measurements this time. The pencil drawing tends to make my work tighter and FYI, I didn't stand behind the board when I created the drawing.
You didn't say that you liked my painting. :o( That's just your style.
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