Sometimes its a good idea to practice value composition by breaking it down into three basic values--dark, light and gray. This quick still life study utilizes a limited palette with the stark contrast of areas of pure Ivory Black and pure Titanium White. This sort of goes against some rules I have in my head, so it was a lot of fun and very liberating. It also utilizes the natural light coming in through the big white skylights I have in my studio, which I like a lot better than set-up lighting.
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This is wonderful - both in the simplicity of the palette and composition. I don't see many still lifes done with earthy tones like this, and I quite like it :).
ReplyDeleteI really like your style! I love that you are able to paint the "shapes" of things, and not painting objects. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's the feeling I get looking at your paintings. For example in this painting, the bottle is comprised of a series of shapes--lines, rectangles,etc that together make it look like a bottle. You do the same in your landscapes. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteSonya--thank you for your comments!
ReplyDeleteVirginia--it is interesting to paint shapes and to try to create interesting patterns with shape, value and color. Whether the final outcome is more realistic or more abstract, the fundamental design is based on abstraction. One aspect I love about Morandi's still lifes is that despite the abstraction, I find an amazing "thereness" of the objects and the objects' relationship to each other. I am ever mesmerized by the way he creates planes with the objects, creates the feeling of 3-dimensionality and does away with all the rules about tangents.