The previous issue: Winter 1999
See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of some of these paintings.
Sunday, June 20, 1999I gave the pear and cherries another shot. Much better results.
Stay tuned for the finished painting to be posted in the Gallery in the upcoming weeks.
Read on...to Summer of 1999
Wednesday, June 16, 1999This was my first day in the painting studio since my return from France (see The Adventures in France).
In celebration of the fruits of summer I decided to paint a tomato, a pear and three cherries. It proved to be a good warm-up, although I found myself struggling with the pear. I still feel that it doesn't have sufficient solidity and weight. Another challenge was making sure that the cherries read specifically as cherries and not any other diminutive fruit or vegetable, such as, say, olives. The stem was an obvious feature, but special care to make sure that the cherries appeared as round and somewhat translucent proved to have the most significant effect.
Tuesday, May 4, 1999The painting studio turned into a recording facility for the day.
I played engineer and producer for Hot Stylin' Clarence and the Kaos Kyle, two rappers from Philadelphia that make up the HIM Status Family.
Sunday, April 25, 1999I finished the study with two olives. The resolution is solid. The olives were delicious.
I immediately started rummaging around the studio for another setup. This time a clove of garlic, a dried red pepper on a cocktail napkin and a bottle of Petite Liqueur by Moet and Chandon provided the subject matter.
I'm always amazed how some of the shapes are so easily built with the very first applications of paint. The dried red pepper snapped into form in only a few short strokes of color, the garlic clove presented a special challenge in the translucence of the papery layers. It almost seemed to glow with light, the dark side didn't seem to be as dark as the shadow it was casting, which proved to be a challenge in making it sit on the table, and not float without substance and definition. I always hesitate to use objects that might challenge a viewer's sense of scale and correctness in shape and proportion. The odd size and shape of the bottle could have caused such a problem, but I think I have successfully sculpted the relative space around the objects to pull the viewer into a closer and more intimate look at this composition.
I had an easy time attaining acceptable resolution without pushing the articulation too far, which does seem to be my tendency when painting bottles. I successfully stayed one step ahead of the shifting sun throughout the afternoon until the completion of this piece.
Daniel arrived as I was signing the finished painting to document my more recent work for the upcoming new pages in the Gallery.
Saturday, April 24, 1999After a late start I finally was able to break out the new giant palette knife. I could practically paddle a boat with that thing, but I immediately noticed the strain on my forearm from the shape of the blade. I filed it down to a gentle taper, and proceeded to quickly mix enough paint for six paintings. I will have to learn some restraint until I start working large again.
Today I started another study with two olives, with the added challenge of having the matching set of white porcelain on an off-white piece of paper, in front of an off-white background. I will learn many things about subtlety as I strive to pull depth and color out of this rather monochrome setup.
Saturday and Sunday of the weekend of April 17, 1999There was no sun.
There was no painting.
Saturday, April 10, 1999Today I made a supply run to Baltimore. I picked up a palette knife large enough to flip pancakes, one new brush, several tubes of paint and three more sheets of Murillo paper. No trip to Baltimore is complete without a fine dinner of sushi and miso soup, and then dessert and coffee by Mount Vernon Park.
Life is good.Sunday was dark and the rain fell heavily.
I will be ready to attack a more sizeable painting next weekend, with more paint and the ability to mix larger amounts of paint with this giant knife. I can hardly wait.
Saturday, April 3, 1999I spent the bulk of the day arranging various objects. As soon as I made a decision, the sun started to fade behind the clouds, where it stayed for the remainder of the weekend. I did finish one small painting of a coffee cup, saucer and the ever-exciting tangerine. It was a modest attempt, simple and solid.
I also experimented with a backdrop of a different color.
Sunday, March 28, 1999What once seemed to need only an hour or two for resolution always snowballs when compounded with all of the other adjustments and decisions that come up within the course of a session. So as it turned out, I actually needed about three hours to polish the many colorful elements to a consistent level of completion. The sun was spectacular, lightly diffused through a gentle haze of clouds, the resulting soft white light was perfect. I found myself being a little sloppy, due to the nature of the painting itself being fairly small. As a result, the drawing is a little rough on many of the areas of the painting, but overall I am fairly satisfied with this piece.
Rather than discard the last two hours of sunlight, I embarked upon yet another painting. After eating the two calamata olives I then reunited the espresso cup with its saucer and placed a tomato a respectful distance away. I then whacked out a rude and crude painting in the fading sunlight, an excellent exercise in brevity and efficiency. I would do well to make such sporting and energetic attempts more often, as it only helps preserve the life and spontaneity which sometimes can be lost on a composition of several longer sessions.
Saturday, March 27, 1999I thought I would try something a little bit different today. As I feel that I'm on an odyssey of exploration of my favorite food, drinks and condiments, I always thought I had been obviously neglecting calamata olives. So many questions present themselves in such a venture:
How does one properly showcase such a diminutive item?
How does one project the sense of proper scale without a gross distortion of perspective?
What simple marks make olives read specifically as olives?I put out a fresh lemon, a tangerine and set three olives on an espresso cup saucer. I could not decide upon an arrangement, until I offered one of the olives to Jodie, which she of course ate without a moment's hesitation. The addition of the small Perrier bottle finished a colorful arrangement. I came very close to resolving a simple yet powerful rendition in only a single day's session, but I still feel as though another hour or two will gain me a strong step forward in my self education.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Winter 1999 for the previous season's struggles.
