Sunday, February 20, 2011

Red Onion on Green SOLD

My One Year Blogging Anniversary.  

February 21 marks the one year anniversary of this blog.  I have posted 127 paintings (this makes 128), most of them created during this year.  I think that the work of frequent painting has made me improve.  I can see mistakes more quickly and have a clearer vision of what will make a good painting.  I'm still working on simplification, lost edges, and broad interesting brush strokes (as opposed to multiple tight fussy brush strokes).

This is an example of an extremely simple composition, but with a nice dynamic balance.  The onion is slightly off center, and the flag of the stem gives it a nice diagonal push.  I've lost an edge in the shadow of onion and I've softened the edge in the foreground where the still life material drops over the edge of the table.   I enjoy the simplicity of the complementary red/green color scheme.  There is a bit of reflected light in the cast shadow, on the underside of the onion and in the stem.  And I like how the onion has light-struck warm areas and shadowed cool areas; the onion is not just red--it moves from red orange to red purple, echoing the gradation of the shadowed background which goes from cool dark green to warmer lighter green.


Thanks to all the people who look at my blog.. I appreciate your comments and opinions.  

2 comments:

Kaylyn Munro said...

lovely work! Especially like the glass and your beautiful, loose landscapes.

Lorraine Shirkus said...

Fun to catch up with your blog, Gretchen . . . really nice light in your still-lifes and beautiful brushwork in your landscapes.