Oranges and Grapes

Oranges and Grapes

6x8in  oil on canvas panel  $125.

The stores are starting to get in these smaller oranges.
Almost tangerines, but not quite.
I can't wait for the Clementines.

Artist Note.

I split this with a dark and light diagonal... with a couple of
interesting shapes breaking into each side. At top, the
white bowl and at the lower end, a line of the grapes.
Curves are repeated. See below.
All of the round shapes - grapes and oranges -  are linked
to another shape, breaking up the possibility of getting
the dreaded "headlights"
(two separate, similar sized, round shapes,
usually kerplonk in the middle.)

A clever person can do the diagrams on the computer but
I printed out the picture, drew the curves,
photographed it, cropped it and then downloaded it
so I could pick it up!
In case you are wondering...
I do these Artist Notes for the artists I teach and several
artists who have let me know they do not have
access to instruction.
It is good for me because it makes me think.

Matisse Copy

Matisse Copy

6x6in oil on canvas board   $85.

Detail:  Still Life with Oranges ( Nature Morte aux Oranges ou Corbeille d'oranges) 1912

Doing this copy by Matisse - the greatest of all the Fauves - reminded me of what a master he was of pure design. Every area of the painting I made this detail from, is perfect.
Doing the research for this small painting I was interested to learn that when he was hospitalized as a young man, the other occupant in his room was copying etchings in color so Henri asked his mother for colored pencils so he could  try his hand at it. He loved it and the rest is history. He started his art career at 20 years of age which was late in comparison to  Picasso, (his future rival)  who, when at the same age, will have already completed almost a thousand works.
Like Picasso, Matisse was a great experimenter with paint application but he knew early on the basic structure the direction his art would go and wrote: " Everything that is unnecessary in a painting is detrimental to it." He was true to this principle from his first to the last of his works.

Matisse used the flat color technique  and would often repaint these areas in another hue. It may look simple but the complexity is profound and I value what I learned during this research.