Lady Apples

"Lady Apples and Kettle" 11"x14" on oil primed linen.

The apples have been left blank because I'm going to try and paint them in one go and I didn't want to wait for an underpainting to dry. I did a rough ebauche (colored underpainting) so that I would have some context with which to judge the color and value of the apples. Even though the ebauche is kind of sketchy looking the inked drawing that shows through it is pretty precise. If everything goes according to plan, once the apples are in I'll be able to slow it down a little. I also set up a different kind of lighting than my usual arrangement. I was at home depot the other day and I saw a plug strip with about six outlets that was laying flat on a table with six screw in light bulbs sticking up from it. The light bulbs were screwed into a plug that could be inserted into the strip. Some bells started going off in my head and I picked one up along with four daylight flourescent bulbs. I placed it on the table next to the still life, and I blocked off the glare of the direct light with black cardboard. It has pretty much the same look as when I was placing my setup next to my studio window except I can work on it at night. In this case I decided to go with a "rim lighting" effect which I discovered by accident when I put the lights on the table while trying to attach them to a beam above the table. It's always fun to try something a little different.