Pear study

I wanted to try something different with the background, here.  I wasn't able to achieve what was in my head, but I like this blue and yellow together.  

This is a picture of my latest purchase.  I'm always buying something that I "need" for painting--new brushes, new books, etc.  This is a tabletop lighting studio.  It's a white nylon box, and came with two spotlights that I shine on the sides of the box.  The fabric diffuses the light, so I don't have the problem with glare that I have with a flash.  There's enough light that the flash on the camera doesn't even go off.   It's 16 inches square, so it won't work for large canvases, but it's great for daily painting.  Now I don't have to wait for a sunny day.  It was $45 on Ebay. 

This wasn't even my own idea, but now I can't remember who recommended it to me!  My apologies that I can't give the credit where credit is due.  

Pears and urn

This was an experiment.  I was looking at a painting yesterday that I really liked.  The artist explained that she had cut out pictures of dishes from various magazines, assembled them in an arrangement she liked and painted it.

I thought, that sounds easy!    I'd just gotten a food magazine with a picture of two pears that I liked.  I found a picture of an urn in another magazine and decided that would make a nice arrangement.  I made a sketch and started painting.

I was having a great time and was about 2/3 finished when I realized  the lighting on the urn came from one direction and the lighting on the pears came from another!   I decided it would be easier to leave the urn as is, so I changed the lighting on the pears.  I think I really prefer painting from a set up rather than from a photo, at least until I gain more experience.

Pear trio

Pears are very forgiving.  You'll never hear one say,  "That doesn't look like me".  Or, "You made my butt look too big."  Which I probably did.   Pears are just easy going and fun to paint.

8 " X 10" oil on canvas panel