Glass Bowl with Limes in Light and Shadow

Some subjects I paint over and over.  I love the translucency of glass bowls.  How do you paint glass?
You paint what's behind the glass, or what's in the glass first.  Then create the shape of the glass bowl by wiping out lights, especially along the rim and foot, and then add shadows and reflections. Last come highlights and bright whites. 

Green Grapes, Glass Reflections on Lavender

When I paint grapes, I do a bit of trimming with a pair of scissors in the clusters of grapes so that I have "holes" to paint.  These empty spaces add interest and give the viewer a path into the middle of the action.  I put a piece of clear glass on top a piece of lavender paper for the tabletop.  And I used a cardboard shield with my lamp to throw a dark shadow across the back of the set up.
 On my ETSY store

Jonquil on Blue with Orange Stripe

This was an older painting that I decided to rework.  I liked the composition but changed the cooler blue color to a more saturated cyan color. 

Two Daisies on Turquoise and Blue

Two daisies again.  Fully open against a bright turquoise and blue background.   The petals are starting to curl backwards as the flowers mature.  I like the color of the greenish reflection in the bottom of the jar.

Daisies Front and Back

Another view of the daisies, this time in a round Mason jar.   I like how the daisies are all straight lines and contrast with all the curvy lines of the glass jar and reflection.  The reflected shape inside the glass jar is especially nice. 

Two Pink Roses Square Glass on Gray SOLD

These delicate single pink roses are blooming on shoots of the rootstock that our species roses are grafted onto.  The rootstock is probably Rosa Canensis, or dog rose.  A very prosaic name for such a lovely rose.  I like how the gray background contrasts with the pink.

Yellow Centered Jonquil Charcoal Wall

Another jonquil painting from this spring.  I like to paint flowers with simple structure.  Also, jonquils hold their petals for several days as cut flowers.  I like the strong turquoise and charcoal colors.

Single Daffodil Orange Strip SOLD

Another daffodil, this time in a vertical format.  I like how the silhouette of the daffodil breaks up the background into interesting shapes.

Jonquil on Blue and Turqouoise

The white jonquils with orange centers have opened in the garden.  I was eager for a new color after all the gold daffodils on gold backgrounds so I decided to try blue.  I find my compositions are better when I have color dominance; here, it's a very large piece of blue with just a bit of gold and green black and white.  And I like the turquoise contrasted with cobalt blue. 

Daffodil on Gold

The daffodils are blooming like crazy even though we've had rainy cool weather.  I like how sculptural these flowers are and how lovely and translucent the light struck areas.  This was painted with lots of juicy medium - I wiped out a lot of the lights so the whites are thinly painted.  I try to put each color down once, but I always wind up going back into areas, wiping out  and repainting.

Gold Topped Vinegar Bottle

This bottle keeps showing up in my still life paintings.  I like the shape and size and really enjoy the color in the cap and label. Plus it's shiny, and paired with a shiny fork and spoon the painting sparkles.

Fork Spoon Vinegar

Although I usually paint on a white canvas, this time I toned the canvas with a red-orange tone and red has found its way into all the gray mixtures creating a lovely harmony. Titanium white added to other pigments actually cools the mixture so the gray is warm from the red-orange and cool from the black and white pigments that were mixed together.   I was also having fun trying to get sparkle and shine from the metal silverware and the glass vinegar bottle. 

Turquoise Plate Yellow Cup Sienna Wall

The same cup stack -- this time I put the turquoise plate on a piece of glass.  The light color under the plate is light bounced around by the glass.  I like the blueish-greenish stripe at the bottom of the painting- the color of the edge of the piece of glass.

Oranges on Black and Gray

These oranges seem especially saturated - probably because the blacks are so very neutral and make the colors pop more.  I really enjoy setting up these still life compositions with a cast shadow across the background-- it enables me to get such interesting angles in the shadows and reflections. 

Orange Slices, Glass Jar, on Lavender

Back to those orange slices.  And the oranges have been so tasty, too.  I like the orange/lavender color scheme and enjoy that little bit of yellow and splash of blue that keeps it interesting.  Still working on those lost edges.

Grapefruit Glass Bowl on Green SOLD

The grapefruit were the excuse to try painting the glass bowl.  But they do make a nice color contrast to the green.  I like how the light bent around the bowl to make the grapefruit fade out on the lower right.  And that cast shadow crossing the grapefruit that was created by the rim of the bowl.

Glass Bottle and Small Red Onion

This one is from a month ago when I was painting lots of glass jars.  I really like the transparency and shine.  I originally had more colors in the foreground, but after looking at it for a couple of weeks, I decided they had to go.  So here is the simplified version.

Shaker, Three Shells on Brown

This is the last one in the group.  So far.  I like the limited palette and its such fun exploring the shiny silver and transparent shakers.

Shaker, Three Shells on Gray SOLD

Back to the gray background.  My view was above the subject, so no horizon line.  I enjoyed the pink lights inside the shells, and the warm reflections on the glass.  As you guessed, I really like this subject matter.

Shaker Two Shells on Brown

I added a burnt sienna background to this one.  I had fun playing with the little tiny lights in the holes in the shaker top - I used a tool to scrape away paint rather than try to add paint.