The above painting was my most recent work from my a la Prima Still-Life in Oils class over at Fleisher in Philly. As indicated in my post on October 13th, I had a much more enjoyable experience in class than during my first class.
The teacher, Giovanni Casadei, spoke to me repeatedly during the 3 hour class about what I was doing. It proved helpful and I appreciated that attention. Ocassionally, he waxed eloquent on the importance of feeling connected to your subject which does resonate with me as an art educator though the way he talks about it sounds more like new age religion than art education. LOL!
Overall, I really enjoyed painting this still life (particularly the fruit). My only regret is not having the opportunity to finish it. The background is missing and that destroys the unity of the piece. I made the mistake of getting too detailed in the beginning and didn't pace myself well. This coming Monday, I'm going to push to block in everything. As I indicated in my October 13th post, I am finding this approach to working (i.e., a la prima) a real challenge and that's primarily because of a fear of failure which surprises me because I tell my students that if you're not willing to make mistakes you're not going to progress and art will always be a frustration for you. Hmmm, I'll have to post on that.Comments on the painting anyone?
