Late Summer Palette

I'm still fascinated by the use of a

black background.  Here is a 10 x 10 canvas

that captures the colors of autumn

with the last of the summer

fruits.

I began this painting with basic acrylic colors and a chalk outline on a black canvas.

The drawing is always important but especially so when working with flat color blocks to start.  I want to get the correct color on the canvas and not worry about blending them together.  It is sometimes called puzzle painting: placing the correct piece next to another one eventually makes it a whole.

I can get lost for hours picking out the color swatches from the reference material.  I am so relaxed at this stage as I know that pulling it all together will happen later.  Remember the palette I began with?

It has gotten very messy and unorganized...just the way I like it when I am trying to capture chunks of color throughout the composition.  I still have some chalk lines above but am about to wipe them off with a cloth.

Here is the finished (maybe?) piece.  After the chalk lines disappeared I began to work with the oils and started the process of glaze over glaze over glaze.  Using color with a "liquin additive" provides a  transparent way of tying all the colors together.  I was attempting to get that waxy, luminescent look that fresh vegetables, err, summer fruits have.  That transparency also makes it harder to photograph true color with my limited equipment....this is much more vibrant than it appears here.

Autumn is dropping huge hints of its arrival.  Cool nights and spots of color....nature's own wonderful late summer palette: Enjoy!

Color Fully Yours,
Cindy

Rescued!

There are several stages to any painting: the first is the idea in your head, all gorgeous and perfect and screaming to be put on paper; the last is the end when you lay down your tools and step back to see if you accomplished your mission.  After joining a farm co-op recently and getting deliveries of fresh produce every week, my head was swimming with ideas for beautifully painted vegetables.  These are organic and fresh-picked so they have all the beautiful flaws and odd sizes and gorgeous colors that come with home-grown.  So last week I pulled out the tiny carrots and the bundle of onions and sat down to create those masterpieces.

Several days later my veggies had gone limp and I still was not satisfied.  I think my error was right at the beginning when the layout of the vegetables did not adequately fill up my 8 x 6 space.  Had this been watercolor on paper, or pastel, all I would need to do is pull out the scissors and take a nip here and there to make a more pleasing arrangement of object and space.  But these were done on cradled board which could not be cut.

So I let them sit a while (and mourned the loss of the edibles).  Finally it occurred to me that I could totally change direction and fill up the space with something else: words.  At least it would be a relatively easy way to see if I could salvage the previous effort.  Checking on-line for short recipes I came up with two and decided to add them to the painting.  See what you think:

The recipes changed the entire look of the work and while it added some levity to the format I have decided that it was not a bad rescue.  I think they would be perfect in a kitchen or a hallway to such.

Each board is 8" x 6"

cradled with 1/2" edge painted green so

that no frames are needed

My goof can be your bargain: I'll sell the pair for $139.00

which INCLUDES shipping!

Just contact me: art@cindymichaud.com