Linda Mann Artist

The starting point for my new set-up was some bundled garlic I grew last summer. It wouldn't stand up on it's own, so I tacked it to my backdrop by its string. Since I have natural light available for a few months, I decided to use it! I opened up the blinds in my studio and used no spotlight.  I was bored with the drawing board I've been using for a tabletop, so I used the lid of an antique paint box. For more drama, I created a 'wall' with a wood box on the left side to cast a shadow. Now that I had the stage set with the main player, I contemplated it for a while to think what else I needed. The set-up so far suggested simplicity and austerity to me (similar to the old Spanish still lifes I love so much). I decided to keep all of the objects similar in form and color. I chose more garlic and some onions.  Keeping with the theme of simplicity, I arranged the onions and single garlic to continue the arc of the garlic bundle. So far, so good! I still can't decide which arrangement I like better, the one in the top photo with the white onion leaning to the right, or the one underneath, with the onion slanting the other way. I'm 'leaning' towards the bottom one. I also think that the white onion could be a bit bigger. The final issue is whether I want the white garlic to be the focal point or the garlic bundle. As it stands, the strong value contrast between the white garlic and the tabletop draws the most attention to the white garlic. If I want to emphasize the garlic bundle, I'll have to get more contrast there, or tone down the contrast between the white garlic and the table (or both). Another option is to use a darker, more purple garlic in place of the white one to tone down the contrast. I'll finalize all of this tomorrow, and order my canvas so I can get started. The sooner the better, as my studio now smells strongly of 9-month old garlic!

  

In my last post about this painting, I said that I'd cast more of a shadow on the left side to unify the objects on that side of the painting. However, after thinking about it, I decided that I'd cast a shadow from the right. This has the effect of muting the upper right edge of the background stone and the gray pot, and drawing attention to the triangle formed by the black vase, colored blocks, and crystal. The addition of this shadow seems to have solved the problem of my 'four-fold' design problem. One of the four objects (the pot) is no longer so much in the spotlight. Three seems to look better than four. I'm happier with the painting now, but it's still not finished!

    I was looking at Style.com recently, and saw these images of Dries Van Noten's fall collection. I was struck by the colors. I wondered if I could use them in a painting. This is unusual for me, as I usually begin my compositions working with form and value relationships. Color, of course, is always present in my work, but it's not usually my starting point. My first challenge was to find items that I owned in these colors. It seems that most of my props are in the brown, ochre, gray and burnt sienna families. Pink was the hardest. I'm not a pink person. Dark green was difficult, too. All I could find were some old books. (The book in the photo is actually green, not blue!) Also, just because something is the right color, does not at all mean that it's the right shape. This is, I think. the greatest difficulty of starting with color. Of course, I could always paint something any color I want, but I really like to see the correct colors in front of me. I don't mind making small adjustments away from reality, but any large change in color is hard to fake. Next, I'll finalize my composition, do a drawing, then a value study, and finally begin painting.

 

 

 

Now that I've completed a few painting sessions with my 'Colored Block' painting, I want to make some changes. I knew it was risky using four objects in a composition. It can tend to look very 'square' and without a focal point. I realize now that all of my four objects are calling for attention and that I haven't decided which one of them is most important. (How did I neglect that?) Looking at it now, I think I'd like either the colored blocks or the crystal sphere to be my focal point. The problem with the blocks is that where they're sitting, so far to the left, is an awkward position for a focal point. It's not where the eye would naturally go. The crystal is a bit better, but is still rather low. The way the painting stands now, the blocks draw the most attention because of their bright colors. However, the eye is also drawn to contrasts of dark and light, so the black vase says 'look at me!.'

I think that before I decide on the focal point, I'll address the problem of the 'squareness' of the composition. Now, there's a subtle shadow cast from the left over the whole set-up. I think I'll increase this shadow to encompass the left side of the vase and some of the blocks. This will tend to unify them, making them read more as one shape instead of two. It'll also add a bit of drama to the set-up, which now looks somewhat flat. After I do this, I can get a better idea of what the focal point should be. I expect it'll be the sphere, but you never know until you try!

 

My last two still life set-ups have had large shadows cast on the back wall. The transition between these shadows and the lit areas can be very difficult to paint. Typically, I use a dark glaze for my shadows. I paint the background, allow it to dry, and then glaze the dark shadow over it, blending the edges of the glaze with a cotton pad to achieve a smooth transition. If the underpainting is smooth enough, this works just fine. I used this method successfully in my "Renaissance Tray' painting, top painting above. However, if too many dried brush strokes catch the glaze from underneath, an uneven appearance results. When this happens, I'm forced to try to blend the edge either while the glaze is still wet, or after it dries. There are problems with both methods. Working with a wet, dark glaze can be difficult, especially when I'm trying to blend it with a lighter area. To blend it, I must first add some new, fresh paint to the dried background, and work this wet paint into the dark, glazed area. The white in this light area blends with the colors of the dark glaze, which usually contains ultramarine blue. This blending results in an area of light blue at the transition instead of the smooth transition from the color of the background to the dark neutral of the glaze. This is not the effect I wanted!  If I wait for the glaze to dry, I have other difficulties. The hard edge must be smoothed with a transitional area of fresh paint that must be worked into both the shadow on one side and the light on the other. Blending fresh paint into the light area isn't hard, because both contain white and are opaque (and reflect light the same way). This same paint, however, doesn't blend well with the dried glaze, which because of the glaze medium blended with it, is glassy and transparent (and reflects light in a very different way!). I'm having this problem in "Golden Goblet and Blue Vase,' second painting, above, which I'm currently working on. The shadow cast on the back wall has a very uneven edge and my attempts to smooth it out haven't been very successful. If all else fails, I could repaint the entire back wall, let it dry, and then try glazing the shadow again. I hope it doesn't come to that! By the way, there is a third option, which is painting the shadow at the same time as the wall, in solid paint, using no glaze, and simply blending wet-in-wet. I haven't tried that because I love the way a glaze mimics the look of an actual shadow.