Diary of a Painting Opus II
After completing what I feel to be a few very strong pieces, I decided to set myself a challenge with something a little different. This highly graphic composition is deliberately centered in the square canvas. My goal here is to explore the concept of a true "centerpiece" while trying to avoid an overly static painting. Think of this as my version of a Tousignant "gong" painting!

Day 1


Once I was committed to the composition, drawing it out did not take long. The symmetry of the bowl and its placement dead centre is still frankly unnerving.

Day 2


I block in all the foreground shapes. Rendering the fruit, abstracted by the facets of the crystal bowl, takes a lot of concentration. At this stage, the bowl itself looks quite awkward and my only saving grace is the large colour statement made by the red plate.

Day 3


I block in the background and foreground tablecloth. I work the soft edge of the shadow of the plate and I'm happy with how it contrasts with the hard edges of the bowl. I take a break from the large shapes, and really enjoy rendering the simple pattern of the embroidery.

At this point I stand back and really try to access my efforts. Is this painting working or have I overdone the "centerpiece" concept?

Day 4


After being left to dry for a few days I decide the painting has merit... though it still has a long way to go. Often times it is hard to keep the vision of the finished piece in my head, and I can get discouraged. Having someone else, in this case my husband and best critic, give me an honest opinion is invaluable.

Although it may be difficult to discern, I start glazing the pears (the few on the left are done, as compared to the few on the right). While the pears started off a green colour, I knew they would turn a wonderful bronze colour as they ripened. And they have ripened fast under my hot lights, so I must work quickly to get down all the information I need. Transparent layers give the fruit dimension as well as depth of colour. Rich and lustrous fruit will go a long way toward keeping the viewer's eye engaged.

Day 5 & 6


I have finished my first go around at glazing the fruit and have livened up the reds in the plate. I have tightened up the bowl, allowing the fruit and the plate to define some of the lost edges. I think I may have overworked the tablecloth by removing too much colour variation found in the white. This will be easy to fix if I let the paint dry for a few days.

Day 7


My fruits have all but collapsed! Luckily I do have enough information already there for me to bring them to completion. I am using transparent glazes to build form and these glazes dry quite quickly leaving me with matt darks instead of the glossy darks I am used to. I keep having to remind myself that my final varnish, 6 months down the road, will restore gloss to my shadows. I have reintroduced some depth into the crisp linen. I briefly consider adding in a few grapes to break up the hard edge of the table. They do look good on my set and would provide some visual relief, but after referring back to my original sketches I realize any softening of lines will obscure the purity of the concept. One more glaze of both warm and cool reds on the plate and... I am done!