Sunday, November 01, 2009

Daily Painting Practice - Wicker Still life


It has been a long week, lots happening out of the studio. I surprised myself in getting as far as I did on this one.

This painting has already had several incarnations. I originally started it on a larger horizontal canvas, with apples and the light coming from the left. It never made me feel like it should, so I let it sit for months.  This square canvas already had a painting on it, (one of those things I wanted to forget I painted) So I covered it up with a thick coat of paint. 
After playing with the composition in a square format I felt like it started to work. My composition editor/wife suggested changing from green apples to pears....(she's gets it right every now and then).

The hardest thing about this painting is the counting...counting the blue squares, counting the white squares, counting the rows of wicker cane. I was so tired of counting but it was the only way I could keep track of the detail. It was very hard not letting it get away from me.


I liked the way the light was hitting the basket. Wanting to keep the focus on that spot of the basket I tried keeping all of the other elements  muted and soft.

I have all the pieces painted but now I need  to make it work together.

click on the painting to enlarge the image
Wicker
20"x20"
oil on canvas
Almost ready to sign it. I'll need to let it rest and look at it with fresh eyes next week.

6 comments:

Anna Tikhomirova said...

Like your composition here. I am a big fan of still life as genre and it's nice to see some fine examples around. I don't feel it is appreciated to the maximum at the moment.

Robin Weiss said...

It's a winner!!

http://www.onpainting.wordpress.com said...

Totally beautiful and so great to see the steps to get there!

Sarah said...

you are the wicker man! I tried this sort of thing last week, what a feat of concentration! Well done

Barbara Peterson: NJ, USA said...

Absolutely beautiful work. Even the steps along the way are nicely done.

Anthony said...

Beautiful! I love all of it, but especially the treatment of the wood and fabric. I can actually feel the hardness and softness. Just perfect.