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Splendor In The Mess Sold Here's another I will need to paint again . . . it's from a photo I took
late last year of the tangerines I'd picked and set on my messy kitchen
island. One morning, the sun slanted in at a beautiful angle and bleached
the leaves on the one at right. Fortunately, my camera was right there in the
midst of bills, papers, magazines . . . This photo offered a wealth of
challenges and also illustrated them quite clearly for me. The short focal
length blurred everything behind the main subjects, bleached out the
lights and gave me more depth than I can invent in my shadow-box.
My set-ups often seem so dull whatever I do with the lighting. There was
also so much information that it forced me to paint the shapes and values,
a much-needed exercise to keep tipping my brain towards thinking that way,
but what I haven't done as well as I hoped was to capture the blurry whites
through the center. They're quite blazing in the photo but behave and recede
just like they're supposed to. When I painted them as bright as I saw them,
they totally misbehaved---something to be aware of and work at: how to
capture whites/lights in a background? This mess is pretty much an example
of "home" for me. Should I post it for the Japan Challenge? 
It is a beautiful painting from the colors, light and composition and YES I think it would be great for the Japan Challenge! :)

March 31, 2011 at 4:09 PM 
Lovely painting! The composition is very interesting...lots of undefined shapes and colors. And the title made me smile!

March 31, 2011 at 4:29 PM 
ery nice composition and warm so bright!
Spent a very enjoyable weekend!

April 1, 2011 at 1:19 AM 
By all means!! It is so stunning. Can you tell I am in love with your work?

BTW, how do you get that gloss finish?

April 1, 2011 at 10:17 AM 
Absolutely, Lorraine! I think it's charming, and the title makes me smile.

April 1, 2011 at 11:52 AM 
Definitely post it! It's powerful, full of energy, and great color. Nice!

April 1, 2011 at 2:17 PM 
This would be beautiful for the Japan Challenge. Love it!

April 1, 2011 at 9:07 PM 
Love the warmth and peacefulness of this....glad you donated it!

April 2, 2011 at 10:10 AM 
Lovely colours, and it has a bit of an Asian look to it with the fruit and leaves. Go for it Lorraine, put it in the Japan Challenge.

April 2, 2011 at 8:15 PM 
I'm so glad you posted this beautiful painting on the Japan Challenge, that is how I found your blog. Also congratulations on your first bid!

I enjoyed scrolling through your blog all the way to the end. Your colors through-out are amazing and I love your painting style! I'm sure I will be coming back often!

April 3, 2011 at 10:16 AM 
This, more than anything, has a very Qiang Huang feel, and that is a high complement. Enjoyed your discussion of the trials....

April 5, 2011 at 4:06 AM 
The light struck leaves are wonderful and I love you commentary. It's quite wonderful to follow your analysis of your own work.

April 5, 2011 at 3:16 PM 
Thanks for your encouragement, Lorraine! I really appreciate it.

April 6, 2011 at 7:12 AM 
Thanks for the great comment Lorraine, I really appreciate it. Have to donated Splendor to the Help Japan fund yet?

April 6, 2011 at 10:42 PM Weekend Abstrait said...

j'aime beaucoup!

April 11, 2011 at 11:37 PM