Dirty Palette Knives, Liquin Container and Paper Towel

 

Dirty Palette Knives, Liquin Container and Paper Towel 

6" x 6" oil on 3/4" gesso board

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The irony of this painting is that I realized how much I needed those palette knives after I got started...

I was about to paint a boring, safe arrangement - an apple and a silver cup - when I saw my dirty palette knives and grimy container of Liquin (painting medium) sitting on a paper towel that I had used to clean brushes, lit by the cool winter light. I'm a sucker for an unarranged or unplanned still life, so I dropped the apple and silver cup.  

This was a tough subject - there is so much going on in that tiny scene. I always get sucked into thinking a painting is going to be easy, but I should know better by now. The more I learn about painting, the harder it gets. 

Green Vase with Glass Vile and Flower

 

Green Vase with Glass Vile and Flower

12" x 12" oil on board

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Great title, huh? I attended another weekend painting workshop with the great Jon Redmond, this time focussed on still life. Jon had us pick a simple setup just to practice the techniques he was showing us, so this is what I scavenged from the Wayne Art Center supply closet, which was packed full of old bottles, vases, cups, trays, fake flowers, fabrics, etc.. I'm not even sure what the little yellow glass is - maybe an old perfume bottle? 

I've heard this before, and Jon said it again, but painting is really about learning to see. Jon is one of the greatest painters alive today, and his vision is unreal. I WAS able to see most of what he saw, which was encouraging, but he can instantly spot a a value or temperature or perspective that's off while it takes me considerably more time if I see it at all. But, I guess that's what happens when you spend your entire life painting and working with other artists who are the best in the world.  The more I can do that, the better I'll see. Jon said my painting was, "well done."  I'll take it!

Yellow Pitcher and African Violet

Yellow Pitcher and African Violet

8" x 8" oil on board

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Painted on a rainy Sunday on the sun porch back in June. I don't have a good spot for the African violet during the winter, so it loses its flowers and usually recovers in the fall, just in time to go back inside for the winter.  I need to invest in a good plant light. 

Peonies

Peonies

12" x 12" oil on board

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Once peonies start to go bad, they go bad quickly.  So of course, I decided to paint these on the last day of shelf life after cutting them from my back yard.  Maybe they could have used another sitting, but at least it's not overdone!