From the Artist: When I painted this composition, I was working with still-lifes of fruits and vegetables.Part of the props I had at my disposal were a dark blue bowl and a bright yellow cloth. I have an Analogous Color Wheel with which I was experimenting. Although the colors don't exactly match the color wheel, they are in the same 'family' with yellow being the dominant hue. I probably should have painted the apples in the vase a green instead of a red since they appear a little alien to the objects as a whole.
From the Painting Guide: I have to say, when I looked at your painting before reading your statement I thought those were peaches at the back, not apples... I think it's because their skin seems fluffier, less glossy that those on the green apples, and the fact that the two at the back don't have stems.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Analogous Colors: An analogous color scheme is on that's restricted to three colors that are next to one another on the color wheel, and with one predominated. So in this painting, the analogous colors are blue, green, and yellow.
If you consider that using this was one of Rene's aims with this painting, then the red doesn't fit. But I also believe that, regardless of what your intentions are when starting a painting, if while you're working on it you feel it wants to go somewhere else, that it's worth doing so. (You can always paint another version sticking to your original intentions.) Overall the colors all have the same strong, saturated feel to them.
Ellipses: Getting the ellipses right is crucial to painting realistic containers. I've been staring at the ellipses of top of the bowl, the top and middle of the vase the red apples are in, and I keep coming back to the feeling that the one in the middle wants to be fatter, and whether the one at the top of the container wants to be narrower (it's higher up than the bowl but the ellipse seems the same). Maybe this indecision is why I mostly paint landscapes...
Shadows: Looking at how dark the shadows are under the yellow cloth and cast by the bowl, I wonder if the shadow on the background from the red-apple's vase ought to be far more definite, rather than merely hinted at.
From the Painting Guide: I have to say, when I looked at your painting before reading your statement I thought those were peaches at the back, not apples... I think it's because their skin seems fluffier, less glossy that those on the green apples, and the fact that the two at the back don't have stems.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Analogous Colors: An analogous color scheme is on that's restricted to three colors that are next to one another on the color wheel, and with one predominated. So in this painting, the analogous colors are blue, green, and yellow.
If you consider that using this was one of Rene's aims with this painting, then the red doesn't fit. But I also believe that, regardless of what your intentions are when starting a painting, if while you're working on it you feel it wants to go somewhere else, that it's worth doing so. (You can always paint another version sticking to your original intentions.) Overall the colors all have the same strong, saturated feel to them.
Ellipses: Getting the ellipses right is crucial to painting realistic containers. I've been staring at the ellipses of top of the bowl, the top and middle of the vase the red apples are in, and I keep coming back to the feeling that the one in the middle wants to be fatter, and whether the one at the top of the container wants to be narrower (it's higher up than the bowl but the ellipse seems the same). Maybe this indecision is why I mostly paint landscapes...
Shadows: Looking at how dark the shadows are under the yellow cloth and cast by the bowl, I wonder if the shadow on the background from the red-apple's vase ought to be far more definite, rather than merely hinted at.