The Opposite of Alla Prima

 

 "Two Orchids, Out of Bloom"

18 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

I started this one ages ago - at least it feels that way. I posted the oil sketch back in February, and have been slowly chipping away at this larger piece since then. That is not the way I prefer to work -  I'm usually alla prima all the way. I'm glad I saw this one through, though. And it's fitting that it finally gets posted this week, following two newer paintings featuring this little dish.

"Fallen Blossom" A floral still life oil painting of red Camellias

 "Fallen Blossom"

12 x 9 inches, oil on canvas

Camellias don't last long as cut flowers - especially if you're constantly fussing and rearranging to get the perfect bouquet for a painting. Luckily, I liked the look of this blossom on the tabletop, and was able to capture it before its petals began to shrivel. I'd love to do a really big still life of Camellias, but I'd have to work fast - a photograph could never do these amazing colors justice - my palette barely can, and I've been using four different reds!

Pretty Larceny

 "Early Camellias"

approx. 12 x 9 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

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The scissors in my glove compartment strike again! This beautiful Camellia bush lives on the front lawn of a real estate office downtown - conveniently located along my morning drop-off-the-people route. I'm sure the friendly realtors would be happy to know they'd donated some excess bloomage to the cause of Art. Not that I'm telling them or anything. 

"Six Quail Eggs" It's All About the Negative Space:

  

"Six Quail Eggs"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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Yes, I've been painting! But I've been away from the blog, and I've missed you! I do apologize, things have been up and down. "In sickness and in health," as they said when I married this blog. 

 Somehow, I managed to work on this painting for two weeks, but kept the freshness of the brushwork on the painted-over canvas- it was one of the first parts of the painting I blocked in, as you can see below, and I left it completely alone. 

The negative space in this painting is the subject. I wanted to emphasize the smallness of the quail eggs, and the little speckled dish they're in. So I used my usual array of colored papers, but also that half-painted canvas, because I live in an art studio, and there's a lot of that around. Kind of my way of self-portraitizing an otherwise normal still life.

 (As always, click the picture for a bigger view.)