Still life

Years ago I painted still lifes almost exclusively. I finally got bored. But, now that I am painting at the senior center twice a week, I need to have something to work on - and sometimes a new fresh idea isn't springing to mind. So, I fell back on a still life this week. this is the one I started yesterday and finished today. or almost finished. I was able to use of of the stamps I carved on it, which made me happy. I had originally sketched a dish with tomatoes and celery on it. Somewhere after I started, it changed. Eggs often appear in my work. I think it needs a third egg to finish it off. Hmmmm.... This painting was done by first collaging scraps of papers on watercolor paper using liquid gel matte medium. Then I used water soluble oil pastels (several brands) scribbled on like crayons - and then used a brush dipped in the liquid gel medium brushed and scrubbed in to move it, blend it, and stabilize it. I also used white gesso and at the end a little golden liquid acrylic mixed with the gel medium as a glaze here and there.

The reason I use this kind of paint technique is because I love the freedom of scribbling with the color, and the strength of the colors. I do my outlining with a charcoal pencil and stabilize it with the gel medium. for this piece I wanted the black lines to really show up so they are heavy - a bit too heavy.

Using water soluble oil pastels allows me to carry a lot of colors, without a lot of weight. And if I decide to work with water color, I've got it covered. Same with the paper. I almost always use WC paper. It's easy to carry, it's cheap, it works for me. If I buy really expensive paper, I'm afraid to touch it. But doing art on cheap paper frees me to do whatever and if I don't like it I can throw it away.

Update aug 8th. I added one more egg to the plate at the senior painting group today and removed the earlier version here.