Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Still Life Interruptus

Still Life Interruptus
10" x 14" watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper
The second painting in the 'Still Life Interruptus' series

A couple of weeks ago I thought it would be fun to try and paint some vegetables. By themself. In a still life. My son (the two year old above), however, had other ideas.

I had them all set up on the table right in the perfect spot of sunshine. Then my other son, who was getting ready to go to kindergarten and couldn't find his backpack, called for me. So, I left those poor defenseless tomatoes all alone on the table and went to track down a Spiderman backpack.

Now I guess I miscalculated the appeal of tomatoes left unattended because when I came back I found them with little bites taken out of them, one still in the culprit's hands, with tomato juice dripping down his chin.
I stood there with my hands on my hips, surveying the carnage and trying not to laugh when he looked up at me and said, "Not an apple."

Then went back to eating the tomato.

Final score: The two year old still life interruptus, fruit and vegetable snacker-2 
Mom-0

I don't think I'm meant to be a still life artist. But I can't complain, this painting was a lot more fun and interesting than what I had planned. :)

June 8 edit: I love the spontaneous feel of this painting so I'm going to have a new series of paintings called, yup, you guessed it, 'Still Life Interruptus' of which this painting is the second. Here is the post for the first painting 'Please?'

A note about the painting process for 'Still Life Interruptus': When Alvaro Castagnet came to the Utah Watercolor Society demo last month he said something that really stuck with me. He talked about how watercolorists have one chance to gain the attention of the big galleries. One chance against the 'king' of media, oils. Paint with passion, be bold, take risks, strive for mood, ambience, grit. The unexpected.

I pushed myself further with this painting than I usually do, although I don't think it was intentional. I wasn't thinking of Alvaro's words at the time I painted it, but remembered them when I was finished.

This painting came from my own intuition, rather than a set of rules to follow, or any acedemic knowledge of 'how one should paint'.  

I exaggerated colors and lighting. Pushing them further with each glaze. A couple of times I set the painting across the room, stepped back and looked at it, and felt sure that I ruined it. Then decided to try one more thing, which worked (Huzzah!), and made it into the painting I'd been envisioning the whole time.

Sometimes we need to just go with our gut. Trust our intuition. Paint what we feel, with passion and boldness. Rules be danged. :)

34 comments:

  1. I want to be the first to say what an absolutely joyful painting.. !!!
    Wonderful!

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  2. Bright and cheerful. Great size also.

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  3. I love the dramatic lighting! I also love how your shadows on people's skin never gets muddy - which would ruin those soft little faces. Instead, they just glow. Beautiful!

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  4. I'll join everyone in saying its a great painting, and the comment about "not an apple" made me grin and giggle. What a cute kid! and what an awesome resulting painting!

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  5. Crystal, it is definitely one of your best, if not the best! The story of your son and the not-apple is wonderful. And your remembrance of Alvaro's comments certainly hit a chord with me. Thank you so much for the fabulous painting and words!!!

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  6. Hi, what a lovely painting. Love the red reflections of the tomato all over him. Alvaro's words are surely helping and so is your hard work.
    Best wishes
    and thanks for the nice comment on my blog too.

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  7. I love this painting. I think it is even better with the two year old instead of just tomatoes. This so reminds me of my daughter when she was little. Sometimes on weekends we would visit a flea market and my only purchase would be a bag of fresh tomatoes. Before we reached home, they woul all be gone, in someone's stomach! And the juice dripping down her chin was a dead giveaway. :-)

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  8. Great painting and wonderful story! Your children are your passion at this season of your life & it is such a blessing for you to be able to tap into two passions at once! One enhances the other...

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  9. I love hearing the story behind the painting!

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  10. I was away and hence missed all those acrylics you did, but I am kinda stuck at this one.. It is ummmmmmm gorgeous. I just love the mood here. The reflected light from the tomato, the blue in the shadow, the expression, the colors.. I think I can go on..and on.. and on..
    And yes we all should paint without worries. Without being too judgmental about how things are turning out to be. In my experience it leads to a great outcome.

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  11. Wonderful, wonderful light..and thats a delightful boy- did I tell you how I envy you?Love this.

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  12. This painting brought me a huge smile. Love the bright look of it, the wonderful expression on your son's face and that sunlight tomato. Great story and appreciated you sharing with us what Alvaro said.

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  13. Absolutly one of my favorite posts yet. I loved the story of your little guy, especially the part about not an apple, and the resulting painting is stunning in both color and style. Why would anyone want to do a still life of tomatoes when a model like this one is available? I want to paint like you when I grow up.

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  14. I don't know how you had set up the tomatoes --but it couldn't have been better than this!!! the story about 'not apple' is totally adorable --I remember the apple story/painting from your earlier blog "please?" :) This is a great trend --such wonderful painting!

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  15. This painting is amazing! Love the reflected light on your sweet little angels face. Nice work!

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  16. Wonderful, Crystal....he's adorable, you could never really be angry with him, now could you!
    I love the "not apples." So innocent. Enjoy your evening.

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  17. I LOVE THIS! Love the painting, the story, the title (oh yeah!), the intuitiveness...HUZZAH is right! Fantastic, Crystal!

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  18. Your watercolors are fabulous!! I just signed up on Feedburner:)

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  19. i love the colors, so glad you went with your gut! and there are no accidents, i'm sure the tomatoes would have been lovely, but this just so cute!! beautifully done crystal!

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  20. Oh that mischievous look on the little ones face is so adorable.Great sense of lighting here Crystal.Too good!

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  21. Oh I just LOVED this post!!
    It took me back to when I had 'oh so carefully' set up a still life of spring greens, carrots, a swede, some parsnips and a couple of onions, all carefully arranged in a straw basket, with the huge spring green leaves carefully curled over the edge. I had set it up on the kitchen Island one Saturday evening and I had planned to draw it on the sunday.
    On the sunday I awoke to the most appetizing smell! Having peeled myself out of bed and had a shower, I wandered down stairs to find my husband basting a chicken. On the kitchen surface next to him was an array of vegetables all chopped up and ready to cook. Hmmm... Now, what were they? Ah, yes - there were spring greens, carrots, a swede, and some parsnips ! All that was left in my basket were the couple of onions!! Paul had decided to cook a Sunday Roast for lunch! I couldn't possibly tell him off, lol!
    Anyway - I love your 'Stil Life'! I love that red glow - Your gut instict was absolutely spot on :0D

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  22. Rules be danged - and you end up with a spectacular painting - bravo!

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  23. Fantabulous! Crystal, you've captured such a precious moment here and your color choices just knock me off my seat. Cheers to you, Sandy.

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  24. This is a great post! I love the concept of Still Life Interruptus! This painting and the story that you've told are precious! I love what you said about painting from your intuition and taking risks. You certainly achieved great results doing that here! Your work is so inspiring.

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  25. Love this! I agree with Barbra - joyful! I look forward to this series. What a great concept! And I love his expression ; )

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  26. Your paintings are so light and fresh. Love them.

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  27. What a great painting. I love the glow of light - wonderful. You are SO lucky to have been at a demo with Alvaro.

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  28. Your post always make me smile and this painting is one of your best. However, I've said that before!! Great job.

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  29. So adorable! Love the name of the series—this is sure to get the attention of galleries. All the things you listed are in this painting. Thanks for sharing!

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  30. Hi, the painting of your son is georgeous. What I love the most are the memories which such paintings bring back to other mothers. Thanks for sharing.

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  31. A beautiful and rich portrait just glowing with expression and color. This is such a special moment caught brilliantly on canvas. Your art is wonderful and I look forward to visiting again Crystal!

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  32. WOWZA! What an incredibly memorable painting! I love it - love the extra ooomph and pizzazz you gave it, love the light, love the cute expression you captured. And, I especially liked the story behind it! I'm so happy to 'find' you, and look forward to perusing your art!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment they really do mean so much to me! Because not all bloggers have their email enabled so I can reply directly through email I will try to reply here in the comments. If I don't please forgive me, life must have been hectic that day! :)) Huzzah!!

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