Granny Smith Apples - a study

I tried quite a few studies of this set up before I felt I was ready to post this one. The silver plate was tricky with the reflections of the apples and the pink polka dotted paper turning up in the most surprising places.

Poinsetta - a study

This was a really fun sketch done at Marina's on Saturday afternoon. The weather here is cold, thirty five below this morning when Phil went out to get the paper! It's painting indoors for a while now that winter has set in, which is fine with me. I will review the notes and exercises from Carol Marine's wonderful workshop in New York this summer and enjoy some still life painting.

Three Apples in a Black Bowl - SOLD

I used the previous study and the still life set up to create this painting. Because I had already painted the study and solved some of the problems this sketch went quite smoothly. It is painted on a piece of linen my husband streched and primed for me, the surface was wonderful to paint on.

Apples in a Black Bowl - a study

This is a preliminary study I did on Sunday, again the same beautiful red apples. The intention was to be aware of each brush stroke mixing a slightly different colour or value of the same colour and carefully applying it. The brushwork is loose and there are lots of edges which gives the impression of being done very quickly but that was not the case. I think the painting looks really alive and I am quite happy with the end result.

Apples in a Glass Bowl - a study

This sketch is truly a study in reflections off glass and the shiny surfaces of the apples. I had a great time painting this one, it was more carefully observing colour and value changes across a smooth surface and trying to accurately reproduce the colour and value than it was drawing shapes.

Apples and Washbasin - a study

Finally a day to paint after a very busy couple of weeks at my hospital. I bought these beautiful apples with the hopes that I would be painting them. The colour combination of red and turquoise is one of my favourites, and those reflections of turquoise on the bottom edges of the apples were really there.

Tangerine, Bottle and Washbasin - a study

A little study working with different whites, much harder than it looks!