I’ve put my Green Cloth painting away for a few weeks, so that I can judge it with fresh eyes. My thoughts have turned to a new painting!
I have three set-up stations in my studio. I thought I’d use one on the opposite side of the room from the last one I used, on a narrow shelf. Now, my spotlight is on the left, and my window is on the right. I like how the spotlight casts shadows of the vertical sides of the shelf unit onto the ‘stage.’ I selected some things from my prop cupboard that attracted my eye- an orange lidded cardboard box, a tall black vase, a silver bowl, and some shells and stones. I decided not to use a cloth, as my last painting was so cloth-centered.
I set this up very quickly- a rare occurrence for me!
I like how every object is influencing the object adjacent to it. The orange box is casting its color onto both the black vase and the silver bowl. The silver bowl is sending wild reflections onto the box and the wall. The shell and the two stones are reflected in the bowl. The table top is sending light up onto all of the objects. Finally, cast shadows connect all of the objects into a continuous flow from upper left to bottom right. I’ll have to make sure that the small shell on the far right is highlighted enough to draw the viewer’s eye up a bit so that the viewer’s eye isn’t led right off of the canvas! I will omit the light switch in the upper right.
My focal point will be the silver bowl with the stones on it. It’s possible that the orange box will be too focus-pulling. If so, I could dull it’s color or increase the brightness of lights on the silver bowl. Or, I could make the orange box the focal point! I’ll wait and see.
Next I’ll figure out how large to make the painting, order the canvas, and start my drawing!
Linda Mann Artist 