Asian Themed Still Life

Eastern Elegance II  18 x 24  Oil

I love the Asian aesthetic and have painted many paintings with Asian inspired objects. Living on the west coast there is a lot of Asian influence and it's easy to find beautiful props in thrift shops or consignment stores. 

This was the first painting I did in my new studio inside my house, which I was still busy trying to figure out. I now have great lighting in the room, so I can easily paint at night time if I want to. The bulbs I purchased are Satco LED A19, 15.5W, and 5000K which provides full spectrum light. I can easily see the colours on my palette as well as on my canvas. Because I paint from life and try to have only one light source, I set up my still life in a black shadow box, with a spot light trained on the set up. I then taped some wide sheets of Aluminium foil attached to each other as one, from the ceiling, blocking the room lighting from hitting the still life set up. The shiny side is turned away from me, which is working, but I may change this to a dark fabric. I also have black out fabric curtains to avoid sunlight coming in when painting a still life, as I have a south facing studio. It's heaven to not have to set up and break down all the time, and to have all my reference books, magazines, props and painting materials all in one place!! What is the best thing in your studio that you're really happy with? 

Asian Themed Still Life

Three Persimmons

Three Persimmons  Oil on Linen  8 x 8  SOLD

I've been busy in Vancouver with my parents recently so I haven't had a chance to practice the techniques that I learned in Mike Svob's workshop. However, I've been practicing thumbnails, trying to come up with different designs for the same image, and seeing which one is most dynamic, for a future painting. This sounds elementary and easy, but it's actually quite difficult to rethink a photo considering adding gradations,  simplifying the shapes and creating a pattern of three values - light, midtone and dark. If you can get through this step and feel really good about one or two thumbnail designs, the next step of painting from your thumbnail by matching the values, is really freeing. A bit scarey but freeing! I highly recommend you try it. 

This is a little painting a did a while back. I received this beautiful table runner as a gift. It's made from recycled Sari's. The persimmons added to the exotic theme, but it was really all about painting the beaded and sequined fabric. I love exotic fabrics...

Three Persimmons

Oops!

 Silk & Things  Oil on Linen  11 x 14  

On exhibit at the FCA Spring Exhibition at Goward House

....a little mistake. Well you know how sometimes a message gets passed along and by the time it arrives to you the info isn't quite right? Well that's what happened with the message about which of my paintings was accepted into the Federation of Canadian Artists Spring Exhibition. The one in my last post was not accepted, but this painting, Silk and Things was! If you're in the area, the show is on at Goward House, 2495 Arbutus Rd until March 28th.

And if you like the painting below please "LIKE" it! This painting is in this months BoldBrush Competition, and you can vote by clicking here and when the voting page opens, click the "Like" button below the image. Thank you!

ACRYLIC PAINTING CLASSES

Coming up on March 20th is a new set of Acrylic Painting classes that I'm teaching. This set is about painting reflective surfaces. If you are in Victoria and would like to join us, we have lots of fun while learning! The classes are at Monterey Center in Oak Bay, Tuesdays Mar20 - April 24, 6:30 - 9pm,  6/$75

Register by phone @ 250 370-7300 Reg#103003

My new website has a newsletter that comes out every 4 - 6 weeks. Apart from my classes and shows, I also include an educational section covering an art topic to appeal to both art lovers and collectors alike. If you are interested in receiving this email newsletter, please click here and to view my website click here.

Oops!

Eastern Elegance II

Eastern Elegance II  Oil on Linen  11 x 14  $650

I'm pleased to tell you that my painting "Eastern Elegance II", has been juried into the Federation of Canadian Artists' Spring Exhibition, here in Victoria. If you are in the area the show is on at Goward House, 2495 Arbutus Rd, until March 28th. There are many talented, well known Victoria artists appearing in the show, and I'm honoured to be a part of it.

I had a great deal of difficulty photographing this piece. It's still not quite what it looks like in real life. The white pot is bleached out with the shadow contrast not really evident. I was getting a lot of glare because of the dark background and finally shot indoors in natural light. If you have any tips for photographing oils with dark passages, please let me know. 

I've just added some pieces to my new website as well as a few testimonials from some of my collectors. I invite you take a moment to view it, and highly recommend FASO to anyone looking for a new website provider. They provide a personalized, highly professional site with enormous options, and excellent support.

Coming up April 14 & 15, is the Oak Bay Artists Spring Studio Tour, with a group preview show to advertise the tour at the Community Arts Council Gallery at Cedar Hill Recreation Center, coming up April 1st. So there's lots happening in the next short while for all you art enthusiasts!

Eastern Elegance II

Eastern Elegance  Oil on Linen  11 x 14

I so enjoyed painting this one! I have a great fondness for the complimentary combination of orange and blue, and also the warm yellows through reds, so I managed to put all my favourite colour combinations into one painting. I also experimented with the background, as I wanted it to be dark but not black, so I created a grey green as the compliment to the red, and placed a diffused light band running through it. I'm a bit of a pattern fanatic as well, so I really enjoyed painting the Asian table runner. I think I have a few more persimmon paintings in the works before retiring that fruit until next year. 

I'm using the rest of the holiday season to work on my new website. Once I have it launched I'll let you all know, and I'd love you to visit and let me know what you think. In the meantime, I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Silk and Persimmons

Silk and Persimmons  Oil on Linen  11 x 14

This was an experiment with a high horizon line, playing with the rich colours and folds of the silk fabric. I really enjoyed painting the persimmons as well. All the warm nuances and shadows. I'm not sure if I'm completely finished on this one. I may add some glazes in the fabric.

Silk and Persimmons

Persimmons

Original Acrylic Painting  6 x 6  $65 

The first of the persimmons have just arrived at the grocery store. I love painting these exotic little fruits. I see more persimmon paintings on the horizon....

Persimmons

Persimmons

Persimmons   Acrylic on  Linen  $65

I decided to work at making the brush strokes painterly in this one. I tried to make as few strokes as possible while capturing the lighting effect and creating the volumes in the fruits. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

 

Persimmons