Still life

I recently watched a demo of Still life painting at Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio.  The demo was by Jeff Legg and I decided on the spot if there was room in the class for me, I was in!  Fortunately, there was and I spent the rest of the week learning more about the art of painting and setting up Still life. 

This first painting was composed during the class; the setup was in a three-sided box with controlled lighting.

The next two are the same painting; the first version is after receiving a critique from Jeff to enhance the darks and shadows.  The version below is the original painting using a tensor lamp and ambient light

More:  As a former watercolor painter, I had to get it into my head that it was okay to use black.  No, not just black, that deadens the color; Black with Alizarin, or black with yellow; black and raw umber make a beautiful background, add white and yellow ochre and you have a lighter more neutral foreground.  Whew!  Once I got my head around this, I was off and running.
More to come....

Quince (done in a controlled setting)

After (darker)

Two pears and a bowl, before a bit of color change

Sunny flowers

There is nothing like yellow to brighten a gloomy rainy day.  We have been having quite a few watery days this week, all for the good of the garden, but seeing the yellow and red bushes in the garden and painting summer adds quite a bit of cheer to the gray.

This week I'm taking a class with Jeff Legg at Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio.  Jeff is a beautiful painter, I particularly admire his still life paintings.  He makes painting fine details and the set up of still life look so easy, and the results are truly beautiful.  I'll talk more about the results of this class in the future and show a finished painting of my own.  Please check out Jeffs' website and WIFAS for some wonderful art teachers.

Sunny side view

Sunflower swirl