Paint It Black

Black Purse, Red Lipstick
Original, oil on canvas panel
8"x10" unframed

Contact Artist to purchase.

—————————————————————————

It's been about a week since I posted the grisaille rendering of this "still life." You would think that a black purse would be easy to paint...just use black paint mixed with white. But then the purse has no color—it's just all shades of gray, like the grisaille rendering.

To create "black," I mixed various combinations of dark pigments—phthalo blue, phthalo green, alizarin crimson, burnt umber, and burnt sienna—and then mixed in some white to paint the highlights and lighter tones.

I painted on it last week and yesterday, and I do believe it is finished.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please contact me, and I will email you a better photo. The painting will be dry enough to put on the scanner in a day or two.

Thanks for looking. Have a good day today, and a wonderful Thursday. See you Friday! ___________________________________________________
Text, images, and artwork ©Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

Back to Basics, Part 2

Rose
(in progress) 10" x 8"

I did work on the "Black Purse" painting on Monday. However, Tuesday it was still too wet to work on or complete in time for today's blog. So, you'll probably see it Friday.

In the meantime, I turned my attention to one of the 12 unfinished paintings in my studio.

Over the weekend, I started this little still life shown here, and was not happy with the drawing. (Usually when I am unhappy with a painting, it's the drawing that needs attention. But it takes me awhile to realize that.) I worked at least an hour on the "shoulders" of the vase and just could not get it right...duh, back to basic drawing! Then the painting was just too wet to mess with, so I set it aside.

As for the painting, I again began with a grisaille rendering. Although most of the canvas is covered with color, you can still see the rose petals done in light shades of umber. Eventually, the rose will be a deep pink. You can also see from this example that I do start out my paintings with all over, loose brushwork.

Check back on Friday to see which painting I get done, and how it turns out. Have a good day!

Many thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate your interest, support, encouragement, and comments. You are welcome to share this with others, too.
_________________________________________________
Images and artwork ©Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

BACK to BASICS

Black Purse, Red Lipstick

Grisaille (in progress)

8" x 10"

—————————————————————
Saturday I arrived at the studio and was not inspired to work on any of the 12 unfinished paintings awaiting my attention. So, what else could I do... I had to start a new painting!

Looking around the studio, I decided to use my purse and a tube of lipstick for my "still life." I then began this painting as a "grisaille" ( pronounced griz-EYE, a French word for "shades of gray"). Traditional art academies taught grisaille to sculptors and painters alike. Sculptors use grisaille as a means to represent relief sculpture. Painters employ grisaille as underpainting, often in preparation for color glazing techniques.

Grisaille paintings are most often done in black or burnt umber, mixed with white. I used a bit of both mixtures for this rendering. Since I am "in training" to paint more quickly, I timed the drawing, blocking in forms and laying in the various lights and darks—about 90 minutes. On Sunday I reworked a bit of the drawing part, and tweaked a few of the lights and darks—another 15 minutes.

As you can see, this is a "first draft" of the still life. Since the items are associated with women, I gave the purse some "body," likening the folds of leather to folds of skin. With luck, I'll have the finished painting to show you on Wednesday....in full color!

In the meantime, have a good day today, and a wonderful Tuesday. Many thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate your interest, support, encouragement, and comments.

You are welcome to share this with others, too: http://www.CarolAdamec.blogspot.com ____________________________________________
Images and artwork ©Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.