Lemons

Lemons

6x6 oil on stretched canvas $150

Painting everyday is not always easy.  After work I decided to set something up that was simple.  It took me at least an hour to set these lemons in a composition I liked.  My plan was to add something more complex each day, instead I worked on this for three days!

Day 1 - I was out of hardboard panels so I used stretched canvas, my goal for the challenge was to try something new.  Even though I applied fresh gesso, the paint wouldn't glide on, it felt like painting with tar.  I stopped because I was tired and wiped out the canvas.  I really liked the ghost image so I worked another hour.

Day 2 - I continued to refine darkening the darks and lightening the lights for drama.

Day 3 - I looked at it in daylight (if you can call socked-in fog daylight) and laughed at my dark green lemons on a dark brown table.  This time the paint went on smoothly, I added the blue background because the view out my window was gray.  I'm done, I don't know if it is.

I like the canvas but I might try more layers of gesso or linen instead of cotton. The trouble with winter is not just the cold and the ice but the dark.  I will try different ways to light my still life with drama and still light the studio bright enough to see what I'm doing!

I am hoping for a trip to Dick Blick later today.  I am out of ultramarine and I was afraid that if I ordered it through the internet it would freeze on the trip.