From the Artist: This is my first still life painting and I had great difficulty doing the plate as is evidenced from the result. However I enjoyed the experience and cannot wait for next month's project.
From the Painting Guide: I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the challenge; that's one of the aims of the monthly projects, to get you trying something new. I'd have to agree with you about the plate, which doesn't have the same quality of rendering as the fruit.
Obviously I don't know how you painted this, whether you were working from life or imagination, but this project is one that's most beneficial if you do work from life, by setting up an arrangement and studying it. The plate looks as if at some stage imagination took over from observation. For instance, it doesn't have a shadow on any side, yet the grayish section would seem to indicate a plate with a raised edge. The fruit has shadow, so the plate ought to too.
Then consider the two different types of marks you've used to paint the paint, the strong gray lines which change direction around the plate and the horizontal purple in the center of the plate. The two butt up to one another, but don't seem to be joined which of course they are in a plate. To me there needs to be some sort of transition between the two, to create a unity; this could be done through color, through blending, or hatching.
I'd also be tempted to differentiate the textures of the plate and tablecloth by using different types of mark-making, perhaps blending the tablecloth color into areas of smoother color? (See Techniques for Pastels for a variety of options.)
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Bearing in mind the theme of this project "still life with fruit", consider what are the dominant elements in the composition. Do the background (tablecloth?) and plate have too much space in the painting?
From the Painting Guide: I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the challenge; that's one of the aims of the monthly projects, to get you trying something new. I'd have to agree with you about the plate, which doesn't have the same quality of rendering as the fruit.
Obviously I don't know how you painted this, whether you were working from life or imagination, but this project is one that's most beneficial if you do work from life, by setting up an arrangement and studying it. The plate looks as if at some stage imagination took over from observation. For instance, it doesn't have a shadow on any side, yet the grayish section would seem to indicate a plate with a raised edge. The fruit has shadow, so the plate ought to too.
Then consider the two different types of marks you've used to paint the paint, the strong gray lines which change direction around the plate and the horizontal purple in the center of the plate. The two butt up to one another, but don't seem to be joined which of course they are in a plate. To me there needs to be some sort of transition between the two, to create a unity; this could be done through color, through blending, or hatching.
I'd also be tempted to differentiate the textures of the plate and tablecloth by using different types of mark-making, perhaps blending the tablecloth color into areas of smoother color? (See Techniques for Pastels for a variety of options.)
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Bearing in mind the theme of this project "still life with fruit", consider what are the dominant elements in the composition. Do the background (tablecloth?) and plate have too much space in the painting?