Virtual Sketch Date

"Oh, My Darlin'" Oil painting of a peeled Clementine on 5 x 5" panel by Lesley Spanos. ©Copyright 2009, all rights reserved.

It’s that time again – Virtual Sketch Date time! I had an awesome time with last month’s challenge, so here we are again. This month’s reference photo was provided by Jeanette Jobson. The image was huge and full of detailm which makes it so much easier to paint. Thank you, Jeanette!

I don’t recall painting peeled citrus before. When I saw the reference, thoughts of Carol Marine’s drool-worthy citrus paintings immediately came to mind. I love the way she depicts the light shining through citrus. While I can’t come close to painting as well as she does, I chose to make the translucency of the fruit my top priority.

Here are some photos I took along the way:

The canvas was toned with loosely applied acrylics in pthalo blue, burnt umber, and naphthol red. Warm colors in the foreground, cool colors in the background. After the background was dry, I switched to oils to paint the orange.

I’ve never painted an unpeeled orange before, so I was tentative in applying the paint, trying to discover the “right” color mixes as I went along.

It didn’t take long to get to this point – maybe twenty minutes?

Added some “stringy thingies” and adjusted the color on the pith a bit.

I was going to add some color to the surface the orange is sitting on, but on second thought, I think I’ll leave it as is.

Changed my mind about the table surface. Decided instead to paint it to match the frame I’m going to use.

A little more work on the details and edges – some sharper, some more blurred – and I’m ready to call it done!

Here it is in the frame:

This will be available on  Boundless Gallery tomorrow.

"Winter Corn," an oil painting by Lesley Spanos. © 2008, all rights reserved.

“Winter Corn”
Oil painting on panel, 10 x 8″
A farm in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania

Ever start something one way, just to have it turn into something entirely different? That’s what happened with this painting. It meandered into something else of its own accord, and I just went along for the ride.

I’ve noticed while browsing the blogs of Different Strokes artists that some also do another event called Virtual Sketch Date. It’s similar to Different Strokes: An image is posted, and artists have a week to create their interpretation of it. I hope the VSD folks don’t mind me dropping in! I also hope I’m doing this right and didn’t take too much artistic license with the photo. If you want to see the reference image and all the cool art that was created from it, check out the site here.

This is how the painting began. I started with an orange-ish ground, so I could lay down the snow in the field first, then scratch out the corn stalks. Plus I like the warmth of an orange ground peeking through cold snow.

I worked on it for an hour or so, but the more I painted, the more it didn’t look like me. It looked like a bad copy of a Thomas Kinkade painting, all goopy and sentimental and nostalgic, like a glitter-dusted Christmas card my grandmother would love. But as much as I hated it, I was going to leave it alone and post it, because they can’t all be winners, right?

Well, the next day, I couldn’t stand looking at it. “It’s already a mess, so I’ll just declare it a total loss and play with it.” Feeling a lot less pressure than before, I started stabbing at the canvas with a bristle filbert and lots more paint than I usually use. I’ve had Van Gogh on my mind lately and it was looking a little Van Gogh-ish, so I expanded on that theme. I know there will be people who prefer the first version, but I’m much happier with this one.

Here’s the painting earlier in the process during the second session. I’m not sure if it’s night or day in my scene. My light got a little confused, but the painting is really pretty the way it is, and I’ll take pretty over accurate any day.

Since I piled on a lot more paint than I usually do, I’m not sure how long it will have to dry before I can ship it. It will be available on Boundless Gallery when it’s ready for $125 with free shipping in the US. (International shipping at actual rates.) If you think you might be interested email me using the Contact form and I’ll let you know when it’s posted for sale.