Still Life in Watercolor

Joy

Contributing Member
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This was on Strathmore Visual Journal sketchbook paper (not good paper), 140CP, about 8 x 12. Took quite a while, and I am not happy with the highlights or shadows. It was done as a monthly challenge

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This is stunning Joy! One of your best (I'm pretty sure I've said that before!). Your colors are deep and rich - textures are beautiful. Bravo!
 
This is so good Joy! There are lots of little details I like - the texture of the pot, the leaves and stems on the tomatoes, the highlights on the bottle - it's very well done. :)
 
CaliAnn, thank you so much! Jerry thought it was one of my best, but I am just glad it is finished.
Kay, thanks. I tend to over focus on minutiae and lose artistic interpretation.
 
This is beautiful. For "not good paper" you captured the smooth, the rough, etc. Very easy on the eyes.
 
Not good paper, not happy etc, ... It is just very-very good and vivid.
To satisfy your "unhappiness" ;) , it's only the reflection on the tomatoes that seems somehow strange to me. Minor detail.
 
Jo, thanks for your input. You are so talented.
Classic (can't remember if we know your first name) - thanks for commenting. I don't like the tomato highlights, either. And that is an important part of the painting, so I must practice that more. I used a permanent masking medium, and inadvertently covered my pencil lines. When trying to lift the lines, I caused a wee bit of damage to the cheap paper so I was not able to get a more natural looking highlight.
 
Nice! Highlights are difficult for sure. You've done them well. Your piece is lovely.
 
It's interesting when other artists are unhappy with aspects of their work that others can't fathom. I think this is probably one of your very bests. It's pretty stunning to me. I looked at the highlights and shadows with a critical eye and they look correct to me, but I see that maybe you can dislike the way they are stylized maybe? I'm not sure. Is it a taste thing? I love it. It looks wonderful to me in all ways. Maybe you're staring at it too long. ;)
 
Ayin, your gracious comment is very uplifting. Overall, I am pleased, but the highlights could look a bit more natural, so I will know to plan those better. Jerry also thought it was one of my best. And, yeah, I am over complicating and over thinking. (Both are a result of over education! )
 
Classic (can't remember if we know your first name) - thanks for commenting. I don't like the tomato highlights, either. And that is an important part of the painting, so I must practice that more. I used a permanent masking medium, and inadvertently covered my pencil lines. When trying to lift the lines, I caused a wee bit of damage to the cheap paper so I was not able to get a more natural looking highlight.
My first name is Emmanuel (in my profile page) :)
I see again the picture and don't find anything really wrong with the tomatoes and the highlights on them. Real tomatoes aren't spherical balls. There are parts almost flat in a tomato's shape and highlights can be like the ones on the photo. I find your painting close to photo-realistic but not too much, so that it remains a painting work, not a photo. I appreciate very much the art of Cezanne (among others), who tries to accentuate the essentials of the forms and volumes. You go further, with a very successful rendition of the shape details and surface texture.

It is possible that your feelings come from some details that are visible on the paper itself but not much on the photo. And yes, damaged paper irritates me too, every time I cause it in my exercises (as a novice I don't dare speaking of 'painting', I still try to understand how the materials react and how to manipulate them).

Anyway, Joy, I en-joy your art!! :)
 
Kay, brokequixote - Thank you!
Emmaneul - The time you took in your reply is greatly appreciated. My struggle is with interpretation of a subject, as I seem to be only able to reproduce a reasonable facsimile of my source. The damage to the paper was caused by using cheap cellulose paper, something which I will not buy again. I thought it would get me to loosen up and not overwork, but so far, that has not transpired.
 
As far as your composition and palette, I think you did a wonderful job here, Joy. I find still life difficult because I get into the weeds too easily trying to arrange items to my satisfaction. Doesn't happen. ;)

I understand what you mean about the highlights on the tomatoes. But you're seeing it as flawed, where I think most of us are seeing it as highly stylized, which elevates it. If you want softer highlights you can easily get a duller white, or cover a smaller area.

he damage to the paper was caused by using cheap cellulose paper, something which I will not buy again. I thought it would get me to loosen up and not overwork, but so far, that has not transpired.
I think the cheap paper is your main culprit. As a beginner with oil pastels I only bought cheap paper, like kid's construction paper - why bother with better paper for my experiments? But I found out quickly that it just worked against me, because the medium didn't react well - and it was so much more rewarding on better paper. Not the best, maybe, but not the cheapest.

I hope you try this again and make a few minor changes. It might be a completely different experience! :)
 
Thanks, Terri. I got the sketchbook to try to experiment more for less cost, but generally use good paper. I realized when I first started painting that it was imperative.
 
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