Five pictures in this set – bright, colourful foods on a neutral ground, pronkstillevens via Wayne Thiebaud. About six weeks, so far, of blocking in and building up layers of colour and shadow; knifework and brushes to create texture and depth in the greys. Trying to keep the handling quite loose but the edges clean, and luckily the ever-present temptation to overwork will just run into sheer lack of time. There are probably only about two decent weeks of working time left, before the dark and the cold make it impractical. And uncomfortable.
At some point I need to assemble them all and check the overall effect; I don’t want them to match exactly but there needs to be enough commonality to hang them together and not have an obvious black sheep.
Of course, I don’t have anywhere to hang them. They have no point or purpose other than I like to do a series now and then, because there are different constraints and opportunities to working in paintings in isolation.
Once they are done, it will be time to pack up the paints and bring them in; go back to sketching and photolibraries and books, start planning for the Spring. I always hope for a spell of hibernation, especially in January, but so far I haven’t managed it.
Mostly painting