Painting the Truth

Orange Bowl with Green Apples, oils on canvas panel, 12" x 9." Contact the artist for price

Today in class we talked about truth in painting: what we are after as painters is to find and paint the true color of objects. If we could simply put down the true color of all the objects in exactly the right place throughout the painting surface, their shapes will be conveyed to the viewer and the illusion made perfect (and we'd be geniuses!).

Since the objects in nature and our still life studies rarely have easy colors, today was a day to stay away from formulas. I struggled to try to find subtler, truer shades. In the shadows, where reflected light is most obvious, I think I managed to find some truth here and there, but the faded terracotta color of the backdrop still defeated me. I was able to see how much lighter in value it was compared to the shadow side of the pitcher, but still have a ways to go towards finding its true color.

Last weekend I recycled some of my old paintings by sanding the panels and gessoing them over. Looking at the work from last year, I was happy to see how much more color I am able to put into my paintings today than a year ago. One learns the language of color little by little, experimenting every time one paints.

In Natural Light

Same Still Life with Green Bowl

Today we painted the same still life set-up as last week but without the floodlights on. It was a cloudy day outside so the challenge was to paint the same thing in a completely different light and color key from last week's, with its simulated sunlight. Some of the differences jumped out at once, but other more subtle color changes were harder to see. In this light the lit side of the objects becomes cooler and subdued, while the shadows become lighter and warmer, with softer edges.

At the end of the class we put out two paintings next to each other for comparison. Look at the painting below. Fascinating, don't you think?

Green Bowl

Green Bowl with White Pitcher and Apples, oils on canvas board, 11" x 14"

I notice that as we progress through each class, our set-ups become a little more complex. We have more elements to deal with, more colors to harmonize. This one could have used a little more work, but as usual I ran out of time. It's starting to come together for me, though. Each time I see more color, more subtle gradations; so difficult to achieve, yet that's what makes the painting come alive. I understand better how every change in form must be a change in color and vise-verse to build up the forms convincingly.

Rainy Day in the Studio

Last Class, Still Life with Oranges, oils, 9" x 12"

It was very rainy the day before our last class, so our teacher E-mailed the evening before that we would meet at Maryand Hall and work on a still life in the studio rather than go out to paint in the wet outdoors. I have to confess that still life painting has never thrilled me much, so I wasn't very enthused with the idea. But I recognize that there is a great deal to be learned from the study of still life, so I was curious to see Lee's demo and try a painting with the new insights about color I've gained.

I was a bit late getting there due to the slow traffic, and the class was starting so I had no time to set up before Lee began his demo. Verbalizing his thought process was wonderful, as usual: how and why he "edited" to select his particular composition, how he put in his main blocks of color and only after these were down and the white surface mostly covered did he begin to refine the color and shapes.

Since we were doing longer critiques for this last class and I had to lay out my palette, I didn't have as much time to actually paint as I would have liked. I struggled finding the right "val-hues," particularly for the green bowl and the blue bottle, and my shapes are not very refined, but it is amazing to see the theories translate into this painting. Strange how just the right val-hues can convey the shapes even at this primitive stage in the painting!