I took a second zoom workshop with Rotem Amizur which focused on still life collages. This one was less intense than the first and I produced less work, but this time I was working ‘from life’ based on a simple still life arrangement: plastic watering can; two lemons; and a small orchid (that I pumped up in the collages using artistic license.
Rhw set-upDrawing to analyze light/dark paper pairingsThe final collage – take one.
I then made a second collage of the same set-up, using a different selection of paired colored papers to represent lights and darks. Do you have a preference?
Second take, using same arrangement.
Next, for an added challenge, I did a collage of one of my special ceramic pieces, filled with twigs from the beautiful Chinese maple tree in my front yard.
Progress shot — the pins almost function as flowers — was tempted to keep it this way!The final, glued piece.
I’ve done a number of simple still life paintings of fruit from life – primarily in watercolor. Key goals: paint an accurate – and hopefully interesting – ‘portrait’ of the items and integrate them into their space so they’re not just isolated lumps. The excellent Ed Praybe has been our lead in these endeavors!
The star. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 12 x 16.
Unlikely duo – heirloom tomato and peach, snuggling. Watercolor on paper. 6×8.
Green apple getting close with another heirloom tomato. Watercolor on paper. 5 x 7,
Bright palette – orange and lemon. Watercolor on paper. 4×6.
Watermelon and Lime. Watercolor on what turned out to be some kind of board!
Here are two of my favorite still life compositions, ‘homework’ painted in oil under the guidance of Ed Praybe. He’s a fabulous painter and equally great teacher. Check out his site.
Dried onion stalks and ceramics. Oil on Arches huile paper. 8 x 16.
MomMom’s Pitcher, Ceci’s Scissors. Oil on Arches huile Paper. 12 x 16.
It’s a time-honored tradition for artists to deepen their craft by studying, copying, transcribing components of, or gaining inspiration from old and newer master painters. In various zoom classes over the last months, I’ve had occasion to do that kind of work.
An abstraction of a Titian nude:
After Titian’s ‘Venus of Urbino’. Oil on Linen. 9.5 x 16.
An abstraction of van Veerendael’s A Bouquet of Flowers in a Crystal Vase.
After van Veerendael’s Bouquet of Flowers in a Crystal Vase. Oil on lInen. 9,5 x 13
Modern subject (Cuban art students studying on a busy boulevard on a Sunday morning) in the style of Vuillard’s paintings of women working.
Cuban art students at work, after Vuillard. Oil on linen.
I did a study of some of my African violets yesterday, using a ‘split primary’ color palette (warm and cool red, yellow and blue tube colors + white). I found it virtually impossible to capture the near neon magenta of the flowers, but did my best with what I had, rather than digging for another tube color.
Our most recent Ed Praybe session called for considering types of compositions ~~ various ways to position the components of the painting so as to produce an intended effect on the viewer. We each selected two objects and then experimented moving them around to see how many different ‘stable’ or ‘dynamic’ compositions we could produce. We then painted one of them, using our primary triad of yellow, red and blue.
For homework, we had to paint three objects into a stable composition and then reposition them and paint a dynamic composition. Still using the primary triad color scheme.
Two object composition – avocado and cobalt olive oil bottle. Is it stable or dynamic? 7″ x 5″.
Stable composition of tea bag, tea cup and tea kettle. 6″ x 6″.
Dynamic composition of tea bag, tea cup and tea kettle. 8″ x 6″.
Recently our class with Ed Praybe focused on painting a wide range of hues using only 3 colors – a ‘primary triad’ of red, yellow and blue. As you may remember, I’ve used such severely limited palettes many times, but only in oil paints so far. It was fun to try it with watercolors.
We did a test painting, blending the three colors before applying them to the paper. Our homework was to paint three versions of a still life setup: one monochrome to analyze the value (light and dark) structure of the scene; a second in which we mixed the colors before applying them to the paper; and a third in which we applied single color washes; let them dry completely, and then painted additional single color washes on top. This last technique creates new colors as the several layers combine optically.
Test case, pre-mixng yellow, red & blue before painting. 7″ x 5″.
The set-up for the series of paintings. Note how the water in the glass distorts the shape of the apple behind. Neat.
1st version, a value study using only ultramarine blue. 5″ x7″.
2d version, pre-mixing the primary colors before applying. 5″ x 7″.
3rd version, applying successive washes of single colors to produce different colors. 5″ x 7″.
In the most recent session with Bernie Dellario, my ‘7 Palettes’ buddies, sister Ceci and a few other folks, we made speedy, simplified interpretations of several Old Master paintings. With a limited palette of the 3 primary colors and about 20-30 minutes each, I painted these images :
A figurative, after the nude Venus of Urbino, painted by Titian (1538); a floral, after a magnificent bouquet by van Veerendael (1662); and a quick gouache study of Madonna and Child, after a beautiful one by Bellini (1510).
Venus of Urbino, Titian.
After Titian’s Venus of Urbino. Oil on loose linen. 16″ x 9.75″.
Bouquet of Flowers in Crystal Vase, van Veerendahl.
After van Veerendahl’s Bouquet of Flowers in Crystal Vase. Oil on loose linen, 9.5″ x 13″.
Madonna and Child, Bellini.
After Bellini’s Madonna and Child. Gouach on watercolor paper. 5″ x 6″.
Painters have a wide variety of ‘tube colors’ to use in trying to achieve their desired hues. I’ve got 30 or 40 tubes of almost every color you can imagine, most of them untouched. For quite awhile, I’ve opted to limit the number of tubes I use, challenging myself to mix a broad variety of colors from a handful of basic hues. Painters call this a ‘limited palette’. It lightens the load of what you have to carry around with you and it helps give a unity of color to your painting. Nice attributes.
There’s no specified set of colors for a limited palette. In the past, I’ve typically used a ‘split primary’ group, which includes two versions of each primary color, plus white and maybe black. Each of the two selected primaries ‘bends’ toward a different adjacent secondary color. For instance, cadmium red tends toward orange (yellow), while alizarin crimson tends toward a purple (blue). Blues may include phtalo or cerulean blue which tend toward green (yellow) and ultramarine blue which leans toward purple (red). Split yellows might include cadmium yellow light, which tends green (yellow), and cadmium yellow, which tends toward orange/red.
If you want to mix a bright saturated orange using such a palette, you’d combine cadmium red and cadmium yellow, rather than alizarin red and/or cadmium yellow light – a combo that produces duller, less saturated oranges. And so on.
Here are a few of my paintings using the split primary palette.
Great Falls, Virginia. Oil on Linen. 20×16.
After the Wedding. Oil on Linen. SOLD
The End. Oil on Arches Huile Paper.
Patient Reader. Oil on Arches Huile Paper.
Two Shells, Three Pearls. Oil on ARches Huile Paper.
More recently, as a result of a zoom class with Bernie Dellario and a number of painting buddies, I’ve been working with an even MORE limited palette — just three primaries + white & a neutral earth red: Hansa yellow; pyrole red; ultramarine blue; transparent red oxide and Titanium white. What a challenge, but I think I’m getting the hang of mixing a broad range of colors from these meager starting points. Here are some recent paintings using this palette.
Breakfront. 6×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper
Goldfish from Above. 6×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Cuban Flamenco Dancers. 10×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
On the Dock. 10×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Oakleaf Hydrangea Leaf in Fall. 9×12. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
