Still life and details

We've all been warned against "getting too bogged down in the details!" Certainly, getting bogged down for any reason is not a good thing. But when I set up a still life, the details - subtle differences and contrasts - are what intrigue and challenge me.

Details add interest and richness to a painting. I found this baby cabbage at a farmer's market last fall. Cabbage: a ball of green. But this one was only the size of a softball, with light green veins, hearty leaves and an awesome, blueish cast on the outer leaves. Beautiful!

Vintage Cabbage ©2014 Dorothy Lorenze

Originally, the wine crate's job was simply to bring the arrangement to eye level. But, like an understudy who catches a break, the finer points of the crate caught my attention and it became an important, supporting cast member.

Plus this crate had lettering! I considered leaving it out, but the type not only added to the composition, it suggested a title: Vintage Cabbage. Anyway, who doesn't want to hand-paint classical letter forms... upside down!

The fascinating thing about wood grain is it seems so random. You could almost fake it, but it's actually easier and more satisfying to render it fairly accurately.

Why? 

DETAILS

Each piece of wood has character that's created by patterns and lines that distinguish it from another. The patterns can be simplified to be less botanically precise, but it's most interesting when the wood is observed and rendered at least somewhat faithfully. Because details convey the character of an object. Always.

This painting includes a different wooden box. The specifics of the wood grain, including its blemishes, describe the more polished, but antique, box that it is.

Munchkin and Silver Spoon ©2014 Dorothy Lorenze

Details can help objects relate to one another and keep the viewer engaged. In this close up, the pumpkin's creamy color is reflected in the spoon handle as well as the top of the box. There is also a bit of reflected light from the spoon brightening the under curve of the pumpkin.

detail - Munchkin and Silver Spoon

It's exciting when such observations come into focus. It may not be noticeable early-on, but gradually those beautiful moments are revealed - like unwrapping a gift in layers of tissue.

What tends to happen is, just about the time I'm thinking, "Holy crap, how many more veins do I need to paint to make this look like a cabbage!?" I'll notice an unexpected color in a shadow, or some other artistic surprise, and it's kind of thrilling all over again.

Apparently, that's why I paint still life... for the thrills!

If you'd like to know more about why I enjoy still life painting, please take a look at my article on the Craftsy website for art and craft instruction: 10 Reasons to Paint Still Life. Enjoy!


Thanks for joining me on my painting journey.

Steps, Stages and Phases

I had hoped/planned to include the finished painting in this post... but it's still not quite done. It's been in progress since early December!

But that's OK because settling on "good enough" isn't really good enough!

In spite of the bright (and tarnished) brass pot and the richly colored grapes, when I set up this still life what intrigued me was the subtle variations of neutrals in the cloth and wood colors. But the subtlety is escaping me and that's why the painting isn't quite done yet.

The still life set up is on the left. After working up a small color study, the drawing was transferred to canvas. Since the grapes weren't going to last  they were painted first.

 

The stage at the left below is still mainly about the grapes. Adding some of the surrounding color helped to determine the overall value (light vs dark) of the painting and the grapes relative to everything else.

On the right I worked on the top of the brass pot, finessing the ellipse a bit.

These photos show a color shift in the brass pot and fiddling with the drippy tarnish pattern in the highlight area. It's kind of an interesting detail but was too prominent and taking away from the shape of the pot.

Below is the latest rendition. I'm not calling it final yet because the fabric needs to be refined a bit. It's almost there but since it's taking so #$%* long to finish, I'm posting these progress shots for now. 

Wish me luck! ;)

©2015 Dorothy Lorenze

Thanks for joining me on my painting journey. Please feel free to share this post with anyone who might be interested in oil painting.

www.dorothylorenze.com

Peace, Joy and Merriment

The gift-giving season is meant to be wonderful but it can bring a level of stress and frustration as our desire to meet the hopes of our loved ones may be a bit overwhelming. Our loved ones? Well, it seems they're fine with anything that's wrapped. More or less.

If finding the perfect gift isn't what brings the greatest satisfaction, the joy of knowing folks well enough to have a sense of what will bring a smile to their face, can be pretty amazing. One year I experienced great joy finding the time to make meringue mushrooms for a yule log (what can I say, it seemed like a big deal at the time).

So here's the point of view that I hope to maintain - trust that the people we love already know that we want the very best for them ...always. Not just at Christmas! And beyond that, try to creatively reinforce that truth.

Many thanks for all the kind words of support for my art endeavors throughout the past year. I wish you and your loved ones all the joys of the holiday season and a peaceful New Year!

It's a wonderful life... jingle all the way!

Jingle ©2014 Dorothy Lorenze