Jennifer Jones’ statement jewelry, 8X5″, oil on canvas
Still life set up by my student, jewelry designer Jennifer Jones. If you’re interested in seeing her work (which really looks better than my still life) see it here.
Neko-nabe, or fat cat in a dish (with notes about how to draw the ellipse of the dish)
Neko-nabe, or fat cat in a dish, 8X6 oil on canvas
An ellipse is a plane curve with two foci which is symmetrical on both the vertical and positive axes, and intersects with these axes perpendicularly.
I recently heard a student tell another one, “She means not a racetrack and not a football.” Works for me, as long as it’s symmetrical both ways, as below.
Use that boring old method, a pencil held up in space, to measure the distances above the bowl’s ellipse and below it. You’ll be surprised at how often the bowl has very little showing below the rim, and a lot above the rim.
There is nothing like a contour drawing to check your composition. This is not time consuming, but the most important work you can do. The mantra of my studio is, “draw slow, paint fast” (and thank you to Rhea Horowitz for coining that). It’s a lot easier to correct mistakes in a pencil drawing than in a mush of paint.
Meme of the day–Ginger is so last year, but so’s this purse!
Sandy’s ginger purse, which I found lying on the floor, 6X8, oil on canvas
These memes of the day are tiny (6X8) still life paintings, warm-ups for my “real” paintings, and if they take me more than an hour, I get quite grumpy. (Girls, can I send this purse away now, or should it kick around your bedrooms for another few years before being properly buried?)
Internet meme of the day–girl falls into fountain while texting
Girl falls into fountain while texting, 6X8″, oil on canvas
And the steps to do it, in about an hour:
I start with either a watercolor pencil drawing. Easily erasable with a wet paper towel, allows me to fiddle endlessly with composition.
Then I block in colors and values, very roughly.
Then these shapes are gradually refined until I have to go pick up my son or yell at the dog or answer the phone..
The water reflections were added last. After I raised my phone up on a small support, I poured a pitcher of water over the rest of the stuff.
Internet meme of the day–that’s just crazy talk.
Tinfoil hat, 6X8″ oil on canvas
Tinfoil is just not that easy to paint alla prima. This was my second try.
But check out this tinfoil, done with a rather more careful approach, in colored pencil:
(BTW, I can make the tinfoil hat itself in less than a minute.)