'City Stroll' in progress

Thanks for all the feedback on my last post. I've painted a lot of lemons but not for about two years, so I was really surprised when I found the shadows so difficult. I completely agree with Karen Sampson's comments on keeping the colours clean and going to either the oranges and reds or to a cool palette with greens and blues. I tried all of those colour combos but because the shadow is in fact a shadow, normally the colour has to be greyed, and there in came the mud. Expect to see some more lemon paintings cropping up because evidently I need to practice.

This past summer we were in Vancouver during the World Cup Soccer Championship, and there is no better part of the city to take in the vibe, than Commercial Drive. I shot a lot of pictures over a few days, and here is the start of a painting in one of my favourite parts of the city. It's a fairly complicated image, so my emphasis will be on editing and simplifying the strokes. Trying to say it with less.

'City Stroll' in progress

Apeeling

On the weekend I wrote that I had planned to post this step by step, but then decided not to because I'm thinking of entering this painting in a show, and I thought it would be against the show rules. I reviewed the rules and think it's fine. I was being a bit a too diligent I think. So here's the post.

Here is the value study of my painting 'Apeeling'. I drew it out using a view finder, and measuring the proportions and angles with my paintbrush. Then painted in the abstract shapes and values.

I've started blocking in the big abstract shapes.

This is the modeling phase, where I'm trying to see and create the subtle changes in colour, tone and temperature. Working on creating the volume of the objects, seeing colours reflected into the underside of the chrome bar, and starting to create the reflection of the peel onto the tabletop.

Original Oil on Linen  11 x 14  $650

This is the highlight and accent phase. I added the highlights and applied some impasto paint to further emphasize the apple and peel. I'm trying to decide if I should further define the chrome edge of the table. I tried to downplay it so it wouldn't compete with the apple, but I'm thinking it needs some crisping up. Any comments?

 



 

Apeeling