cristinrenee

At some point, I would like to do a series of still lifes, each featuring a piece of bright, vintage enamelware. But in my tiny little city apartment, I'm pretty limited with the settings I can use and the things I can throw into the picture.

None of the pictures below are the lighting I'd want use, but I was trying some things out early this morning and pondering options.

In the end, I'd really want the series to be about the bright primary/secondary colors, simple shapes, and the blonde wood.

I also like the idea that it's catching a moment before I sit down and enjoy a simple pleasure.

The cup and saucer belonged to my great-grandmother. The handkerchief needs pressing, but is one from my mother's collection of vintage handkerchiefs (which probably makes it more from my grandmother's era than hers). The teapot is a vintage find from online (not usable for tea anymore) that I loved at first sight. In my head, it belongs to my mother's era, so I have elements of three generations here.

But I'm not sure what to do with it.

I don't want it to be one of those still lifes that has random fruit/flowers/stuff in it that makes you think "WTF? What does that _____ have to do with anything else in that picture?" I also don't want it to be too crowded. But I don't want it to be too static or dead, either.

( Seeking tea-potty wisdom... )

Poor Checotah. I overdo it with all the painting Tuesday, but she's the one to suffer.

So, it was a good thing I had this canvas ready. The teacher did ask about a second canvas and I was able to pull it out and say I was all set to go. She complimented the composition and the sketch, too, which was very nice to hear. (She doesn't need to know how I angsted over the composition for two weeks, right?)

I was up early to finish the sketch and stayed up late to get as far as I did on the underpainting. I had the whole canvas covered at one point, though you'll see that's not how I left things...

( Read more... )

I was angsty last night because I thought I needed another canvas ready to work on in class today just in case I had time leftover from working on the Mermer painting. During the first class, I'd tentatively decided on a picture of Checotah (a.k.a. Chickie) as my second class painting, but I've been fighting with that decision since. The only ways I really wanted to crop the picture would not fit on a standard-sized canvas.





I settled on a square canvas last week, but because I wasn't thrilled with the composition, I didn't want to waste a big canvas on it. I had it all sketched out on a 10" x 10" canvas. (Or was it an 8" x 8"? Whatever. It was small and cramped and it didn't make me happy.) Erased it as best I could.

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So, at the urgings of my own heart, plus those of my mother, Sami, and my boss, I started a painting from one of the inspiration photos I was discouraged from using in art class. So this is outside-of-class work, mainly going from what I've learned in books.

	July 28, 2010 - 7:43 PM start of my first oil painting!
	palette - stage 1 working with a limited palette of ultramarine, lemon yellow, and burnt sienna
	July 28, 2010 - 8:21 PM
	value check
	palette - stage 2
	inspiration (Have now moved the "painting table" a few more inches away from my closet, which has no doors and is therefore vulnerable.)
	July 28, 2010 - 8:41 PM calling it a night
	value check
	July 29, 2010 - 8:20 PM began this stage at about 6:30 PM
	July 29, 2010 - 8:39 PM calling it a night
	palette - stage 3 Okay, I had to sneak a little cerulean into the palette, too. (I'm now just keeping my palette taped to this little folding table. After putting two more sheets of disposable palettes over the top of this, I'm able to fold the table up and keep Anu from sprawling on top of paint while I'm away.)
	value check