LEFT-HANDED FRUIT

(Click image to enlarge)

Size 24" x 18"

Paints: indigo, rose madder, vermillion, indian yellow, raw sienna, alizarin crimson, phalo blue, burnt sienna and van dyke brown

I'm entering this painting in the Eugene Mayor's Art Show today. It is a juried competition with an about 1 in 10 chance of getting selected. The good news is that all those who are rejected can enter their work in the Salon de Refuses, a show that runs unjuried through the entire month of September.

An hour into this painting I was ready to recycle the paper and start over. The colors weren't right and I wasn't sure of the composition. But I persevered and like the results. There are a lot of layering of all the primary colors to get the brightness I wanted. I kept putting in darker and darker shadows to create the contrast and give it depth. There are a few things I really like (the center raisin) and some things I wish I would have done better or differently. I don't think I'll ever be completely satisfied with a painting and maybe that is a good thing.

56 Chevy

(Click here to enlarge)

This painting came out of a work-in-progress I presented on Wet Canvas:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=511278

I was asked to show how I painted chrome. I wasn't sure there was a real technique for painting chrome; but I explained what I did when painting chrome which was basically "paint what I see." You can see a video of the work in progress here:

http://www.timgosswatercolors.com/chrome.wmv

Step by step, I started with the bumper and painting the lightest values (blue and light green) leaving some areas white. After the lightest values were added, I went to the darks which are basically the black and dark brown colors. This really sets off the contrast and shows how things are going to look when finished. After the darks are painted, it is adding the middle values and some detail.

I read recently in a painting "how-to" book about perfect and imperfect reflections. Imperfect reflections, like on water, have a local color (the water) and are muted. Perfect reflections, like on chrome or a mirror, have no local color so reflect back the exact colors. In this painting the chrome reflects the ground, buildings and sky/clouds.

The part of this painting I like best is the grey metal engine parts above the chrome grill.