Under the Glass Table

This painting was inspired by one seen in the National Portrait Gallery in London during our trip there last month.  We visited five museums during our week's stay. The painting was a portrait of a man with his feet under a glass table which seemed to be both figurative and a still life. This idea was new and challenging to me. I wanted to create an interesting point of view and something different from my usual still lifes.

Lemon and Blue Bowl

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Yellow has always been a challenging color for me and lemons are at the apex of that color confrontation. The problem is how to paint what I actually see (a lemon in shadow) and not my idea of a yellow lemon that never gets as dark as it actually appears.  I wanted a warm, vibrant, not greenish or a dull color. I decided upon a color not on my palette, raw sienna and I liked it.  How do I know I made my lemon in shadow dark enough? I used my new little MVP :)  Framed.