I took a chance when I saw the sun shining this morning, and hung 2 loads of wash on the line. A few things dried completely, but when it became cloudy I took the rest of it down and finished drying in the dryer. It never did rain, but sure looks like it will.
You probably know by now I have no shame, so I will show you what I've been working on, artistically speaking. There is such a glaring error in the tomato I painted, with the highlighted area on one side curved the wrong way! The tomato curves one way but I applied the highlight in the opposite curve direction. I'll be able to correct it, I hope. Then I tried to mix brown paint for the table on which the tomato sits. The table actually looks like two different shades of brown, but I think that is just how the sunlight made it look. (Click to enlarge)
I looked up lots of different websites that give instructions for mixing brown paint. The initial try looks like olive drab, and what I finally ended up with is a lighter shade of olive drab. I've mixed brown before, and don't know what in the world I've done to get this! I may try to find a tube of brown paint and just cover it up that way!
One things for sure, I'm not taking this with me (in its present state) when I go back to class. This painting is not going to be for sale, now or in the distant future, so when I am satisfied with it is when I stop.
I have determined that right now I don't like painting on canvas, at least with acrylics. I have a pad of Mixed Media paper, which works for wet or dry paints; it is a stiff white paper with almost the stiffness of cardboard. I will try that when I finish the canvasses of vegetables which I've already sketched. I know the painting is getting to me when I start thinking about opening a bottle of beer in the middle of the day!
I just looked up and am shocked to see a beautiful sunny sky! I'll take that lovely view once in a while but definitely prefer rain as often as we can get it for now.
I just checked my fridge and will have to work a bit harder to get my dinner this evening - no soup, no meatloaf, nothing I can just heat and eat. I've become lazier than ever!
Posts
I don't know, I kind of like the two tone 'table'. To me it looks like the tomato is setting on a railing or a window seal with grass in the background.
ReplyDeleteHave you eaten the subject of your painting? A plate of sliced tomatoes with a pinch of salt sound like a lovey dinner.
I haven't eaten the tomato, and darn that sounds so good. That will be dinner tomorrow!
DeleteThanks for the comment on the 2-tone table. You can see in the original picture the difference in the wood color, which is brought out by the bright sunlight that was coming in from behind it. I had planned on a brown table with a medium green background in the top third. Now I'm not sure what that top third should be.
I was also just thinking that my problems with painting on the canvass is that I don't always lay down a base coat. I think that would help, and I may try it next time.
It occurs to me that the art instructor told me once or twice that I should lay down a base coat, but never told me why, or how to determine the color it should be. She has also gone on and on about "value" with much more than I can understand at once. I think value in this context has to do with tone and contrast, but I will gladly accept correction if I'm wrong. The thing is that for me, the word "value" doesn't go with the concept it represents. And believe me, I am a word person, so if it doesn't ring with me there is a problem with the way it's presented. Ironically when Bob Ross uses the term (rarely have I heard him use it in over 100 videos) I have no problem with knowing what he means.
Delete'Value' in quilting is light, medium, and dark. How you gauge that is with a red or green filter or squinting. It also depends what you place next to it. Link to how quilters use value: http://www.karencombs.com/page.php?ID=34
DeleteWell, I'm going to be totally honest and say that whether or not your tomato looks exactly like that picture or not, I like it better than the picture. It looks like a tomato, whether it looks like that particular tomato, who cares. The picture is just for inspiration. I'm impressed. If I could do that well I'd be very very happy. I did art lessons for a year and half and could never get to that point. I just can't seem to learn to draw. The only things I ever did that I liked were fixed and improved and practically done by my instructor. HA!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your generous comment on the tomato. It's funny what we "see" and "don't see", and I usually just see the mistakes at first. After I leave the painting around for a few days and glance at it often, it usually begins to look better to me. I'm still enjoying the process!
DeleteYour tomato doesn't look bad to me. I used to be able to mix colors too but I just seem to have lost that inner color sense I once had.
ReplyDeleteI also have run out of premade food now I guess I'll have to find something to whip up again.
I bought some Phillips brand frozen mini crabcakes today, and was recalling the 1st time I ever ate crabcakes, which was at Phillips in Washington, DC back in the early 60's. I also bought a box of Long John Silver biscuit mix to which you add cheddar cheese and bake them on a cookie sheet. I couldn't resist either one of those delicious-sounding items!
DeleteHi, Gypsy. But your "having no shame" is part of what makes you so loveable!!! Great job on the tomato from this point off view. I have made quite a few quilts. Still don't get the "value" stuff. I found that several people have differing opinions as to which group a particular piece of fabric fits. So I just go my merry way, without understanding how to classify colors. As long as I like my results, who cares?
ReplyDeleteRe cooking. I have gotten lazy, too. I cook for two. Have discovered the wonder of cooking for 8, and freezing the extra in meal-size portions. Yeah!! Lots of days with dinner already done!!
You know I just saw today, I think on some art website, about value in connection with fabric, quilts, etc. My grandma made gorgeous quilts, and my mother-in-law was a natural for putting colors together in the afghans she crocheted. I doubt if any of them ever heard of "value" in that context.
DeleteI think I don't trust myself to put the right colors together, although I know what I like.
The only time I cook large meals and save them is when I make soup. If I cooked pork chops for 8 I would end up eating 4 or 5 of them in the 1st meal!