After doing monochromatic paintings of cubes, spheres and a geometric still life, I had my students move on to colored building blocks. I'll post those shortly, but I wanted to first post my own demonstration painting for their next lesson: a pumpkin. Actually, they'll also do a gourd, an apple and a pear. I thought these simple pieces of fruit would be a fitting next step for their efforts. I may be wrong, but we'll see.I'm going to post all four of these demonstration pieces. I just finished my fourth so I'll post them over the next few nights. I start the piece during class for those students who are ready to watch and then finish it during my lunch. The focus for my Introduction to Painting class is on direct, or alla prima, painting. So, I'm pushing myself to finish the paintings that day to keep my approach fresh. I consider it an object lesson since many of them are struggling with overblending and generally overworking their paintings. But, that's a common mistake so I'm not wringing my hands over it. I simply remind them with each demo how to work with the paint before it dries. I have them work with water-soluble oil paints so they are dry to the touch by the next day.
Your feedback to this piece would be appreciated. I have more involved paintings if you'd like to review those, as well. I was taking my class over at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia; Yellow Speaks, Composition with Yellow and Red and It's Not Easy Begin Blue being a few of my better pieces from the last class I took at Fleisher under Giovanni Casadei.
Again, I'd enjoy hearing from you.
