Green Mammoths

 Green Mammoths

7" x 5"  acrylic on stretch canvas

The art group I belong to does challenges to push members into new mediums and subject matter from time to time.  In May the subject was your favourite food or drink. 

For me, its olives.  The bigger, the better.   I wasn't always an olive fan and they're often something people love or hate, with their distinctive briny taste and meaty texture.  But now I probably eat olives most days at some point and my current favourite are these mammoth green olives with blue cheese.  I know, the combination may sound odd, but its sooooooo good.

Have a look at the group's blog to see what others chose to paint.

Lost and Found Edges

 Orb

7" x 5" acrylic

Available from Daily Paintworks

While I love painting water and fish, I find that pretty much anything that has similar reflective surfaces always appeals to me.  A natural sideline towards glass is inevitable and I love the challenges it presents.

Within this glass marble there are a number of lost and found edges.  The found or hard edges create the light reflected off the surface and the diffused or lost edges make up the values within the shape and in the reflection of the marble on the table it sits on.  The lost edge are the bottom of the reflection seems to dissolve into the darkness of the table and again at the edges.   This blurred area helps provide atmosphere in the painting as well as define what the surface is made of.  We know from that reflection that the table does not have a brilliantly reflective finish and give a mirror image with the same detail that the marble is painted.

The marble sits in the light and its hard surface where the light strikes it has strongly defined areas between the values, the light bleaching out the colour and only coming back as the surface curves towards the shadow.

The values of colour and light within the marble have both soft or lost edges as one colour blends into another to indicate form. This contrasts well against the crisp edges of the highlights and marble's outer edge.

A variety of edges in a painting gives interest and keeps the viewer's attention.  The found edges become the focal point of the piece then let the eye travel to other areas with less focus.

Onions

 Allium Cepa

5" x 7" oil on panel       Available for purchase

I've been sketching and painting onions lately.  Just small pieces as interludes between working on large paintings.

We often take the simplest things for granted and overlook them when searching for subjects for painting and drawing.  Onions, rather like eggs, give a challenge in form and value as well as coming in a number of colourways also.

Here are a couple of oil sketches that I did on paper in my sketchbook as well as a small painting completed. What vegetable do you enjoy painting?