Finished! This was a really hard week, but I was glad to have the distraction. Next week I’m going to do a final post displaying all of these paintings together and let you know which ones are my favorites.
Day 25. I was surprised to find these mandarin oranges with stems at my local supermarket. The store is finally joining the rest of the country with a big remodel and new items. Change is hard. Half of the town hates the remodel, and the other half welcome it. I’m in the welcoming half. It was needed and brought along some nice features like self-scan, pick up, and delivery. When the crowds are thick in the summer it’ll be nice not to have to stand in line for a checker while tourists groan and complain about getting stuck behind my massive cart of groceries. Tourists are the worst.
Day 26. I received some hard news on the evening I painted this. My aunt was in the hospital in critical condition. She passed away later that evening. I’m a creature of habit so I painted. It should have been an easy painting, but I struggled. Toward the end I complained to my husband that it looked bad. He said it looked good, I just needed more blue in my shadows. Of course. I had somehow forgotten that blue is the complement to orange. I had been trying and failing to use purple as a compliment. Clearly, my head was elsewhere. I decided to take a break and finish this one the next day.
Day 27: I finished day 26 as well as day 27. A difficult day in general. The distraction of painting was nice, but also frustrating. The orange slices walk a fine line between yellow and orange that was hard to pin down.
Day 28. Cabbage. I love the vibrant colors and thin layers of the cabbage. I didn’t add in all of t
I’ve still been using the Gamblin Solvent-Free Gel and Gamsol for the sketch and while I’m getting a bit more used to it, I still don’t like it a whole lot. Maybe its just the years and years of using Liquin, but I am having a really hard time adjusting to how thick the gel is. Instead of really thinning the paint, it extends it and I’m getting more opaque layers vs how Liquin thins the paint and you can achieve more transparent glazes. Plus, it is so thick that it is difficult to use for the first layers, hence the use of Gamsol.
Day 29 went well. It turns out watermelon is an interesting color that can be hard to pin down. I initially used a lot of Quinacridone red thinking the watermelon was a very pink color, but it didn’t look right. The final mix ended up being cadmium red, cadmium yellow, titanium white, and only a touch of quinacridone red to pink it up. The dark areas were a mix of permanent madder deep, cadmium red, and a touch of phthalo green to darken the mix. All in all, the pink of watermelon is a much warmer color than I would have thought.
Day 30. My fridge is empty and the watermelon froze at some point so the texture is horrible. I guess that is what I get for buying watermelon in January. I like the composition a bit more on this second watermelon painting. Plus, since the slices are propped up, the light shining through revealed a bit more detail.
Day 31. Today was my Aunt Helen’s funeral. She was a force to be reckoned with. She always made it her business to know what was going on with you and support you where she could. She was always a supporter and fan of my art and always had words of encouragement for me when I needed it. It was astonishing, the outpouring of love and support from the community, to know just how many lives she touched. I love you Aunt Helen.