Sunday, July 24, 2011

Two Creamers

Here’s a little watercolor study that I made while waiting for breakfast at the local diner.



A good thing to keep in mind when painting highly reflective objects, such as these little stainless steel creamers, is that the more reflective something is, the greater the range of values needed to portray it.

9 comments:

Mathias said...

Tremendous!

John Fleck said...

Lovely.

I am curious: how long did this take?

James Gurney said...

Thanks, Mathias.
John, maybe 10 minutes. After that they came with the scrambled eggs.

My Pen Name said...

James,
Great study. I am glad you post stuff like this - its a reminder to all of us who think we 'don't have enough time. I am reminded of louis auchincloss- who wrote 57 books (his last at 90)-while raising a family and working (Working not a face partner) as a lawyer. whit stilmman interviewed him and asked how he did it:

How did you manage to combine a full-time law career with such extraordinary productivity as a writer?


Auchincloss: What I learned to do was use bits and slices of time. If you learn that you can cover an enormous amount of ground. I'd go to Surrogate's Court and listen to the calendar being called for a particular case - it might come up in 10 minutes or in an hour - I thought, look, I could write then. Lots of writers think you need rest and calm, your slippers and a cigar, and all that. That's all very well if you can have those things, but you don't need them. So I picked up a great deal of time that way. If you have a notebook, you can fill that in constantly.

...............
Naturally painters can't carry around their magnum opuses, but they can always carry a small sketchbook - and work out problems and ideas, or practice, and that makes time at the easel more productive.

David Teter said...

Great little study, the well balanced warm and cools and the economy of wash applications.
10 minutes?
Just curious...What is the size? I remember your little postage stamp sized studies, the little gems, you did sitting in a train station from an earlier post.

John Fleck said...

So a brush pen and small travel set of water colors?

I need to find a way to fit in more drawing/painting in little bursts. I am a stay-at-home Dad and get little moments here and there during the day. I need to make the most of them!

I also picked up David Curtis' "Light and Mood in Watercolour" today. Good book! The guy is quite skilled, indeed.

James Gurney said...

David, the sketches are about 3 inches square, done with a little Schmincke watercolor set and a few touches of water soluble colored pencils.

My Pen, yes, I've heard of many books that were written in these little bits of time. The only difference is that with sketches, I'm not really working toward a large goal/large work, but just looking for little sidelong glances, gathered at random toward no particular goal.

Rich said...

Wonderful!
The only thing I'd miss is your face mirrored in those stainless steel surfaces;-)

Michael Pieczonka said...

Great little study James! Incredible for, what you say, 10 min?? wow!