Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Apricots and pitcher




At long last.... I finally have started painting again.  I have really missed painting, and especially my class. We have about six women in the class, which meets weekly in Boerne, TX.  They are all so supportive of each other, and I enjoy the laughter and fun we have together.

I went to my class yesterday and finished this painting I started almost two months ago.   My reference was a David Leffel painting from Oil Painting Secrets from a Master.   My favorite part was trying to figure out how he made his background.  I'm not sure what he did, but I eventually used a palette knife to get the texture.

I should know better than to varnish the painting before trying to photograph it!  There's quite a glare, and the colors aren't really true.  However, this was the best photo I could get.

11 inch X 14 inch oil on stretched canvas  (Click on the painting to enlarge.)

13 comments:

  1. Virginia! This is stunning!!! Beautiful rendering of the apricots and pitcher, and plate edge . . . soft edges, subtlety, color, perfect values. Great job!!! I'm so glad you're back.

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  2. Thank you, Lorraine! I really value your opinion.

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  3. Great job on the pitcher, Virginia! You are a brave soul to tackle that! I like your apricots, too. Beautiful color and value on them. Beautiful painting!!

    Glad you are back in the saddle .... ooops easel!! :)

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  4. Beautiful painting! Such pretty colors for the apricots; wonderful shapes and some going into the background. The dimension of the pitcher is great with very nice highlights. I like the texture in the background. A palette knife can be handy.

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  5. Virginia, This is beautifully painting. I am looking at those apricots and all the wonderful colors and highlights and the rounded forms are awesome:) Love the whole painting and the detail on the pitcher is stunning right out front! Sweet and glad to see you back:)

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  6. I love it ! Le pichet, les fruits, la nappe, tout est très beau. J'aime par dessus comment tu as travaillé le mur. Bravo !

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  7. Lovely painting. The apricots are stunning.

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  8. Very nice, Virginia--love the softness of the fruit. Glad to see you posting again.

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  9. Hi Virginia,
    I know what you mean about photographing! I can never get the shot to look exactly like the painting, it's so frustrating, and I find the bigger the painting is, the worse it looks when photographed and transferred to the internet. I wish I knew a way around it -- if you find out let me know.
    Thanks so much for all your kind comments on my blog. You had asked if I were using black gesso, and I have gone to gray --- also painted the underside of my glass palette gray, it makes such a difference mixing colors. Liquitex makes a good absolutely neutral gray.
    Your painting is looking good - I'm glad you're back at it.
    Jean

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  10. Great work, I bet your thrilled to have it finished! Now frame!!

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  11. What a wonderful painting! I love those bright yellow lemons. Yellow is always the hardest color for me to get to show well on the computer, but yours just warm my monitor!

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  12. Really nice job on this. Beautiful apricots and painted pitcher.

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  13. Hi Virginia, I love the pitcher and those yellows.

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