Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Color Phases

pumpkin oil painting art
 "Fall Four"
12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas
$700 

I've been painting a lot lately, and it feels great! I am ready to move on from pumpkins, though. It actually seems that I've been in an orange phase for a couple months now. I didn't realize that I go through these cycles with color until it was pointed out to me by my 11 year old private student the other day. She was gazing at the wall where I hang my paintings to dry, and said, "You paint a lot of orange, don't you?" And I said, "Well, um, yes, I guess I do!"
Perspective: just one of the benefits of letting other humans into your studio once in a while! 

If you scroll back though my still lives from this year, you'll see that I do cycle through colors - before orange, it was purple/red, and before that, yellow (a perennial favorite), then green, then red.  I tend to be into red in the winter months - and my current orange obsession can't be explained by the prevalence of pumpkins during this time of year - I've got oranges, cantaloupe, and grapefruit under my belt as well. Literally. I ate them.

Here's my work-in-progress. This painting took about three days to complete. 

work in progress oil painting pumpkin art

As always, thanks for looking - and for reading this far! If you'd like to see my recent orange phase paintings in person, I'll be showing most of them during November at Out on a Limb Gallery, here in Eugene. The opening reception is Friday, November 4th, from 5:30-8 pm. Hope to see you there!

2 comments:

Caroline Greene said...

That's so interesting. I'm still at an early stage of learning, having done less than a hundred paintings, and I can't see any phases as yet, but it must be great to have someone see your work with fresh eyes and help set you thinking like that. I imagine you're learning a lot from your student. The stages you show are really helpful. Thank you!! I was surprised to see how late you approached the fabric's pattern - looks like a fun bit?

Sarah Sedwick Studio said...

Hi Caroline - Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad you find my work-in-progress photo helpful! The fabric was fun - I almost always paint the fabric form first and then add the pattern on top - preferably after it's had a day or two to set. It doesn't really DRY, but it's a little easier to paint on top if it's had some time to sit. I also do this with patterns on ceramic objects - and tattoos on skin!