Peach in the Middle - Still Life Painting

Peach in Two Bowls – 6" x 6" Oil on Canvas Panel SOLD

Sometimes my paintings just begin as experiments, and as the experience progresses it becomes a final painting. I have had the white bowl for a few months, and have used it in previous paintings, and the blue-green bowl is new. They were stacked on my shelf and I liked the proportions of them being nested. Then I also wanted to paint my yellow peaches again as they were getting to be on their last leg of life. So this organic nature of creating the composition occurred, however it is the manner that I employed in laying down the paint that was new to me.

This painting was completed with only using sable brushes, something very foreign to me as I love using my bristle brushes. Danni Dawson always encourages her students to handle bristle brushes for all types of painting methods, so typically I paint 98-99% of all my paintings using bristle. Most times only my signature is completed with a sable. However this past week I have been visiting and reviewing Duane Keiser’s blog and website. His work inspired me to try something else out and to see if I can capture a more refined level of detail. So this painting was my experiment. It was really a lot of fun, it used up a lot more mental energy than I expected, and the rewarding result was that I have now begun to gain a new skill in handling paint. One of the things I love about paintings is how it can drain me of all of my energy - mental and physical - and still leave me refreshed and wanting more once I step back and view a finished painting. Does this ever happen to you?