This painting really is about the light that comes through our kitchen’s south facing window . I apologize for not photographing the first stage of the painting. That was the drawing and under painting. I will do that for future paintings.
I am working with my favorite materials. Linen panel and M. Graham oils. I do a wash under painting to block in the shape using Gamsol and M. Graham walnut alkyd medium. The under painting color is whatever will give a nice middle value to work with while providing a nice color base to build upon. In this case I used yellow ochre with a touch of terra rosa for warmth in the upper part, transitioning to colbalt blue with a touch of alizarin crimson. The second picture (below) shows a little bit of refinement especially in the foreground and on some of the chile peppers.
That’s enough about technique.
Recently I have been thinking about why I paint these still lifes. I clearly am responding to the beautiful light, shadows and how the light bounces from one surface to the next. I love the contrasting textures – smooth terra cotta bowl, glossy peppers, soft blanket and coarse wood. I find the hominess of fresh produce and natural textures very comforting and soothing even with the strong contrasting light.
But I think there is something more that draws me to these subjects. Something about the nature of confronting beauty head on . . . But that is for a future blog.
Coming up in the next blog: “Southwestern Light” progresses, and thoughts on a contemplative experience of beauty.
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Beautiful! Thanks for including the technical details, I never thought of using different colors for different areas of an underpainting, will have to try that. Now I wish I could see the earlier stages! I hope you post the underpainting and initial drawing for your next painting, would love to see
I like that technique for under painting. I will usually modulate the under painting color to correspond the color of the light – warm to cool in this case. Other times I might use complementary color to the final hue that I will use to in area to make the final color more vibrant. Then again, sometimes I just use burnt umber and yellow ocher, perhaps with a touch of veridian as a value painting – lights and darks.
Whatever I do it’s all fun stuff.