Study in Yellow - Original Still Life in Oils

My shipment with all my art stationery arrived last week and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I have got new supplies of paints and boards along with a few brushes too.:) Starting on a new board always gives me a high. 

I wanted to paint something from life, and when I opened my fridge, I had these half used peppers staring at me. I vehemently avoided the red one as the palette has had too much red lately. Yellow against my turquoise coloured paper was just perfect. Simple and beautiful. I set it up against the sunlight this morning and I was racing against the sun since the light was rapidly changing. Every time the sun moved a bit, I had to shift my set up following it.:) However, I completed it with the help of my reference only and that's something I'd like to change the next time. 

Study in Yellow
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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Study in Red #4 - Original Still Life in Oils

My favourite of the peppers so far, hope you like it too! :-)

Study in Red #4
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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Study in Red #3 - Original Still Life in Oils

I am still in the mood to paint red bell peppers :-) I was a lot more comfortable mixing the reds for this piece. I laid down my darkest darks first and then worked lighter from there. Normally, when I work from lightest to dark, I sometimes find myself in a position where the darks are well, too dark. Since I wanted to avoid that, I laid down not so dark darks first. I guess it worked better. And quicker. 

These are painted based on references that aren't mine. I so wish I could paint them from life, which I probably would sometime soon. I have an idea for a series of life paintings of peppers, and I will get to work on it soon. Until then, these references were too good to let go of. I liked the complementary background better than a greyish one, so went in with the green this time around too. 

Study in Red #3
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
NFS

Study in Red #2 - Original Still Life in Oils

Continuing with my colour studies, this is yet another study in red. Red to me is one of the most difficult colours to get subtle value variations in. In this reference for example, the darks have a lot variety but I struggled quite a bit with them. With two different reds and two different blues, I tried to mix as many darks as I could. :-) 

Study in Red #2
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
NFS.

I wanted to go in for a complementary background with this piece. This was inspired by another artist's still life studies that she shared on Facebook. Do you like this rather saturated background compared to the neutral background the last time? Let me know in the comments.

SOLD - Study in Red - Original Still Life in Oils, 6 by 6 inches

If there is one thing that I'd like to change about my work, top of the list would be to stop overworking my pieces. There are of course a lot of things that I want to improve upon, but this is number one without a doubt. I just do not convey what I intend to with minimal strokes. It is something that I am aware of and continuously strive to improve. First thing that I did earlier this year was to banish my smallest brushes from the studio. I am now accustomed to bigger brushes, but still not quite where I want to be in terms of strokes. This painting is my first deliberate study in that direction. 

Study in Red
Oil on Board, 6 by 6 inches
SOLD

I paused before each stroke to evaluate its merit. Made me think and work in a more deliberate manner. I did not count the strokes in this one, I will do it in my future studies.