Still Life Diversions by Southern California Artist Marian Fortunati

Blue Bottle and Pitcher
© Marian Fortunati

6" x 8" Oil on RayMar Panel

Four Cuties and a Pitcher
© Marian Fortunati
5" x 7" Oil On RayMar Canvas Panel

I wanted to keep painting and drawing and I was tired of painting houses, so since it was wet and rainy anyway, I decided to do a little still life or two.  My goal is to draw and paint every day.   I figured I should practice my values on the form... (although now I see I should darken the highlight on the pitcher that is in the shaded area  following the rule that nothing in the dark is lighter than anything in the light.) 

Originally I worked on a small 5" x 7" panel and used 4 cuties and a small white pitcher.

Later I decided to add some color interest, so I put in the blue bottle and an amber glass apple.  You might look at that glass apple and say that it's green but the sunlight streaming through the blue glass bottle then through the amber glass apple made it turn green.  I thought it looked pretty neat. 

I liked the looser paint in the first one and the cool colors in the transparent glass in the second.  Too bad I couldn't have achieved both with both.   More practice needed.

I have one more house painting for the upcoming show at La Galeria Gitana to share and I also painted two figurative pieces.   I'm looking forward to the reception which will be on January 22 from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.    If you're around, you might enjoy coming too!

Contact me HERE if you are interested in either of these small paintings.