Spring Art Tour this weekend

 

SOLD- This small still life will be at the Vashon Island Art Studio Tour THIS weekend, May 14 -15, Saturday and Sunday, 10 an- 5pm.  Red Onion 6x6 oil on panel showing at Gretchen Hancock's Studio 28405 101st Ave SW, south of Dockton.  Tour Stop #26. 

maps of tour available at https://vivartists.com/viva/studio-tours/spring-studio-tour-2022/

Red Onion on Gold

The shadow side of the onion is a bit cooler - towards violet, and the lit side is a bit warmer towards red.

Purple Onion on Green - Kitchen art

A purple onion in strong light with loose onion skins.  I like the cool pink colors reflected on the shadow side of the onion. 

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.  

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.

Two Bottles and Small Red Onion

This painting was all about the glass jars: the reflections,  the highlights, the illusion of transparency, the lost and found edges, and the sparkle and shine.  In order to simplify a complex subject, I elevated the still life to eye level so that the oval perspective of the glass became a straight line.