Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oil study #51

I may have to let this one sit for few days to make up my mind about it. I like it when I squint or if I look at it from far...

4 comments:

Bob Barker said...

The peppers make great subjects, don't they? This "recumbent" orange pepper is really good - good form and the colour is great.
I also think the reflections (both in this painting and in the onion painting) are well thought out, in terms of shape and colour but I have one reservation. I may be trying to impose criteria that belong to a different art form. It seems to me that the "material" on which the onions and pepper rest would not have the reflective properties implied by the strength of the reflections. Given the brush strokes and colour the surface looks more like a fabric than a hard reflective surface which the strength of your painted reflections would demand. Maybe I'm making assumptions about the surfaces on which the fruit rests that I should not.
In any case, Johanne, you are making more and better progress in your experimentation than I am with my DSLR photography - I seem to be reading more than doing. Oh, well ...

BJ said...

Onions and peppers. I like them both. Do you eat them when you are finished painting them?

JohanneMorinFineArt said...

BJ,
I like to eat the yellow and orange peppers better than the red and green. And I hate to lose food, so I'll try to use them in a stir fry.

JohanneMorinFineArt said...

Bob, you have a keen eye. I use a sheet plexiglass over the fabric surface to create reflections. And now that you mention it... with the brushstrokes the reflections may look funny...

I had the same problem of "reading more than doing" until not too long ago. Although I knew more about painting while reading and watching DVDs (and the more I knew, the more I felt ignorant about it), I felt that my painting was not really improving (at least not fast enough) because of not enough doing.

A combination of a few things helped me to change that. The major thing was that I got mad enough at myself for not doing enough. I go to the gym 5 times a week, why can't I do the same thing with painting?

Another thing was that I got a studio easel last November for my birthday. It's a decent size and sturdy easel. It's ready to use at any time. Being able to start painting without having to set up made a difference.

I usually don't wait for the beginning of the year for a resolution, but last January the timing was just right. My resolution in 2009 is PRIORITY ON DOING (painting/artwork). No more reading, watching DVDs, workshops until I paint at least 5 times a week. I will not buy another book, DVD, nor renew my magazine subscriptions until I finish the pile waiting for me. So far so good...