Getting ready for curry night.

The ingredients are beginning to look lovely, I love a fridge full of fresh green healthy looking stuff.

I'm much happier with these chillies, especially the two at the back which I think work with fairly few brushstrokes. This is my first time painting a leaf. I really enjoyed doing this, there was a lovely scent of lime, and things went okay.

 

 

Chillies for curry

We seem to have gone from a vague notion we ought to have people around sometime, to having about 15 coming for curry on Saturday. Oops.  Many chillies purchased. Much beer bought.

This is okay from across the room, quite far across, with a squint! Some bits worked, but I got a bit bogged down in colours and reflections, and faffed too much with the shadows, and the second chilli on the left is a bit horrid!

Rosehips to the rescue

After a miserable morning painting where I managed to make a chrisp white china jug look like an invading alien smudge monster, I didn't want to give up defeated. I should have gone in and got some serious studying done, but instead I went and  found some pretty rosehips in the garden

That went better, nearly well enough to offset study guilt. Ther was a much nicer reflection going on in the shadows than I managed to capture.

 

Row of spring onions

Bought for a spanakopita, these onions had there lives ( temporarily) saved;  their lovely colours meant they were diverted from kitchen chopping board to garage .( Still feels a little pretentious to call it a studio).

I wanted to try and simplify the brushstrokes and not smudge everything. I thought they ended up a bit cartoonish, but Paul liked them, so I'll go with his opinion on this one.

skittles

Paul suggested trying the skittles.

Nice subject matter, but the detail and funny perspective meant I worked on it for too long and lost any sense of fresh fun colour. It seems hard not to make blue and yellow turn to murk.

 

Study books for my next university module have arrived, soon garage/studio time will be hard to find.

coloured glass

I ran about the house looking for something what wasn't a little white dish and brought a selection of stuff out to the garage. It's the third time I have met the postman en route. I had a lamp under my arm, and a tray with a vase, serving spoons, scissors, tea light holders, chillies, a global knife, glass medicine bottles and an aubergine. He is beginning to give me funny looks.

This, for me , was mightily hard. It even too an age to draw it. It must be the longest it ever took me to paint anything & I've now developed a  permanently furrowed brow ! I'm actually quite pleased with this, yes, there are problems, but I found it a huge challenge, and think, in the main, I didn't do too badly.

Last try for present

I thought I'd give those bowls one more try, although, I've rather had it with them. I think the shapes and complication are a bit tricky for me. In an attempt to simplify, I've only painted two.

I think that might do. It's better than the others I reckon, and some of the cherries work okay. Bowl persective and underside of bowls is a bit shakey, but it's a bit fresh and colourful at least.

I need to get away from bowls, and from blue and green backgrounds, and try something else.