Title and Medium
Creme de Banana. Size: 8 by 8 inches. Support: Canvas paper. Medium: Acrylics.
Artist's Statement
A leftover half a banana and what to do with it? Aha, I had a bottle of Creme de Banana and put the two together in a setup for this painting. From an artistic point of view the deteriorating banana caught my eye as a good challenge.
Because it was half of a banana I chose to use only part of the bottle. I also used the dark background to focus mainly on the banana and just the least amount of detail and part of the label on the bottle.
What I'd Do Differently
- In retrospect, I would have had a good sip of that cordial before I started the painting to get me in the banana mood and less uptight doing that darn peel in a state of deterioration.
- I don't think I'd do anything differently as the final thing turned out ok in my mind. I had never done that kind of thing and was very focused on the brown parts around the edge of the peel to make it look realistic. Don't know if I succeeded but it was the best I could do. Didn't spend a whole lot of time on this painting, didn't want to do tweaking and fiddling ad infinitum!
Marion Boddy-Evans, Painting Guide, says:
I think the half bottle and half banana, emerging from the dark, Rembrandt-like background make a strong composition. It gives a sense of a story to the scene, things left unsaid or something interrupted. I think you have succeeded with making it look realistic, and tweaking and fiddling wouldn't add to it. Stopping sooner rather than later is invariably a good idea!
