The Coffee Jar proved to be such a fun challenge for everyone! I would like to thank all of us who took the time to paint and share their paintings with us and also all who provided comments and feedbacks.
And it's not just us artists who visit our PADT. I see many people returning to the PADT blog time and again simply to admire the creativity and imagination in all the beautiful paintings and drawings.
And now... we are all set for the next challenge!
About the compositionAny Greek will tell you that diospyros means "food of the gods." What he may not tell you is that diospyros is also the botanical name for persimmon. It has such a heavenly, delicious taste!
However, when the early settlers of North America first bit into persimmon, its bitter taste made their lips pucker. Then, they learnt from the Native Americans how they must wait for the fruit to ripen, before it acquires its yummy taste.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
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Technically speaking, this composition is all about complements and reflections.
Although this is a still life, the colors of persimmon and the background are purposely chosen to "help" each other and introduce action, contrast and a dramatic play of light and reflections on the stage.
This kind of subject arrangement helps us to observe how orange and blue - two complementary colors - can emphasize each other so much.
I am sure you will agree that just the fruit and the background would have been a too simple composition. To make the artist's life more interesting... and lend intrigue to the subject, we have a hand made crochet dolly which I made a few years ago.
The main areas we should enjoy noticing and painting:
1) Crochet and its reflections on the persimmon. I know it is barely visible, but please do notice the crochet reflections on the fruit and emphasize it. It is the true soul of this composition. The fruit is just a vehicle to catch those magnificent reflections and grab the viewer's attention.
2) Orange reflection on the top left side of the crochet. This orange reflection of the persimmon on the crochet clearly affirms that both the crochet and the persimmon belong to the same environment...unified ...helping tremendously in achieving a color balance and harmony.
3) Value relation (relative darkness/lightness) in different areas of the table top and background.
Please do pay special attention to the bottom area of the table top and left and the right side of the background. One side is much lighter than the other. This value relation accentuates the contrast as well as the captivating and delightful play of light.
Please send a photo of your painting latest by March 12. The next painting reference will be posted on Sunday March 13.
