following the path

 Following the path 

18X24           Oil on panel

This is a little section of wood in a local park near where I live, I love that transition from maintained grass to forest. I always respond to the shape of this path as it stretches between the towering trees on either side. It gives these great swaths of shadow across the grass and under the trees. 

This is the first oil in a while, quite a shock to the system after so many Acrylic paintings where you can be so lazy about drying times and thickness of paint. Made me feel like I should do some more, to get the feel back again.

Harmony

I usually paint in quite a high key range, but sometimes it's great to wallow in some darker hues. I love this rich purple maroon tablecloth and the color bounce of the warm lemons and oranges...Last few still lifes, have all featured some form of fractured or broken chairs in the background. Perhaps it's time I got out the nails and glue and stuck some of them back together! ;-)


It's a difficult painting to photograph this, cameras dont cope well with strong reds next to green hues, and the tonal range is big too. A lot gets lost in those darks, that the eye can enjoy but the camera misses.

'Harmony across the darks'

36X24

Acrylic on board

Tulips

The latest Still life, and a recent favorite of mine. This is a standard size for me 36X24, and quite a regular or normal size. But sometimes I enjoy creating the illusion of length, by stretching the composition within the frame. Squashing and pulling the table forms and adding length in the vase. The stems of the flowers if anything are shortened to allow the flowers to arrive in the right space on the canvas. But the illusion is still complete  - narrow and tall, one of elegant length.

The color choices are similar to many I used fairly regularly a number of years ago, it was fun to return to them, the yellow oranges, really sit well over the somber greens and cerulean blues.

The title 'Still life with sections of a chair' was also important to me, it allows the viewer to think about the split chair in the background. It's an object that at first glance is only there to frame the table and vase, strengthening the composition. However including 'it' in the title draws some thought and an extra depth to appreciating the object within the work.

Still life with sections of a chair

36X24    Acrylic on board