Tall Red Still-life with Mercury Glass

& here it is finished... showing up a bit more orangey than in real life due to artificial lighting.

The pedastal holding the fruit is mercury glass and I don't like how it looks "almost" like metal so I don't think I'll use it in a still-life again. I mean will the viewer realize it is mercury glass - probably not!

Tall Red Still-life

well this is the new one I'm wrking on and it could REALLY end up in disaster! First off the dish is mercury glass and is proving very hard to capture correctlty. Then there's the overall composition. You can't see it very well but it will have a red on red cloth coming down through most of it. I'm just not sure how well that will work unitl I do it. If it works then I will be doing more "tall" ones like this. If not... well.....

I'm Back!

Whew! We had fun on vacation... two county fairs, a trip downtown in Chicago to Millenium Park and Navy Pier, two water parks, and loads of fishing, lounging and campfires on the Kankakee River behind my mother's house. Yes I did no artwork.

I did just start right to work as I have to replace some pieces that sold while I was away. I haven't gone through my messages yet or paid the bills but I've finished a piece!

Off for vacation

Well here I go off on another vacation. This time I'm going to the Chicago suburbs to visit my family for 2 1/2 weeks. I've tried bringing art supplies with me before but I never get around to doing artwork there so I am going to try and not stress over it and just have a good time with family.... even though I deadlines.... deadlines... ok I said I'm not going to stress.

Shadow's Bliss

Shadow's Bliss
What I was really trying to set up in this still-life is two distinct environments - the outside and the inside of the bag(light/dark). It doesn't mean anything... I mean it isn't supposed to represent "shelter" or anything like that. I just LOVE creating complex darks, so putting the apple in shadow allows me to explore that. In painting (as opposed to drawing) one technique is to have complex darks built up of many thin layers and simple thick lights. I just am so happy that colored pencil can do the same thing. I think the effect is fascinating. It gives the light an almost solid feel like it is an object in itself but the fun part is exploring the many colors in the darks.