"More Cherries"

Oil on 6x6 gessobord panel

I couldn't resist coloring in my value study from the previous post.  I like how it came out, the cherries are nice and dark. My favorite part was painting the stems on.

Daily Paintworks Value Challenge

When I read about the Value Challenge on Daily Paintworks, I thought it was something I really needed to try.  I don't usually want to take the time to practice value studies before painting, so I was motivated to try.  Carol Marine explains the challenge here, and she suggested using only burnt umber and turpentine, using it to tone the painting surface a medium tone, then painting in the darks, and wiping out with turpentine or mineral spirits to get back the white of the board.   I've used thinned burnt umber to tone before, but I usually like to paint in the whites with white paint.  I still had my cherries out from the last two paintings, and decided to use them for the exercise.
This was the first time I tried wiping the paint away to get the white of the board back.  I found that it works out pretty good, and to get the sharper highlights in the cherries and bowl, I used a q-tip stick (with the cotton end broken off.)  My only trouble was trying to continue the next day after it had dried to lighten up the background a bit, it didn't work as well, but, now I know.

This was a very pleasant exercise to do, and I will definitely be putting more thought into value and composition in the future!
Thanks for stopping by, and thank you for your comments!  Enjoy your holiday weekend everyone!

"Lemon with Cherries"

Oil on 6x6 Linen Panel

While doing this painting, I kept changing the background color, or value.  One thing I've found that really helps me to see values clearly is my camera.  I set it to the "monochrome" setting, then the view on the camera's screen is in black and white.  I don't need to take a picture, just quickly view it on the screen, and I can tell right away if my values are too close in range and where I might need more contrast.

"Cherries"

Oil on 6x6 Gessobord panel

I loved the yellow background color with these bright red cherries.  It looks very sunny, and warm... like the weather we've had here for the past few days.. finally!!

"Clementine and Colored Papers"

Oil on 5x7 hardboard panel

I have been trying to find something different to add more interest to the backgrounds of my paintings. I have been using these different colored papers to slip under or behind my subjects, and it's always fun to see which colors work, and which ones don't. Then I got the idea to fan a few out, and try it that way. I loved the way this looked, and couldn't wait to paint it.

"Violet Magnolia"

Oil on 8x6 Linen panel

I'm always trying different things to paint on. Artists always seem to love to paint on linen, so every so often I like to try it. There are so many brands to choose from though, I once tried a sampler pad of 4 or 5 different kinds, they were ok, but I didn't love any of them. I've tried buying a piece of unprimed linen, and making my own linen panels, but.. I didn't love them either. I also had a pad of another kind of oil primed linen, and, same thing, I didn't feel like it was just the right thing for me. The last time I ordered some things from Blick art, I ordered one of their acrylic primed belgian linen panels, and set it aside.
I found this lovely rose/violet colored magnolia growing in a local park, I've never seen a magnolia this color! It was so different and beautiful, I took it home to try and paint a picture of it. I remembered my linen panel, and decided to use it for this painting, and... I LOVED it!!!!!!
It was perfect. I have an order in for more :-)

Break

I'll be taking a short break, be back next week.