Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Robert Burridge - Floral Still Life


Staring at a Rembrandt painting awhile ago, I wondered what made his portraits so striking. Besides the obvious masterhand of rendering a likeness of the person, using limited palette of black, white and earthtones, it finally dawned on me. His dramatic use of strong graphic design and strong lighting.
So I made a sketch painting, emulating his theory and technique, using only neutral-toned acrylic paint: The background started black at the top and gradated down towards the bottom.
The flower vase was painted in the opposite direction. The bottom of the vase started out as the blackest black and gradated lighter as I moved up to the lightest part of the flowers.
I began an entire series like this … I experimented with different human forms, floral still lifes and even free abstract paintings. I practiced this simple concept over and over again with black and white warmups - then I switched over to a color palette, using this same technique. I’m hooked!
Original painting - acrylic on watercolor paper - $425 +
$35 Shipping/handling

1 comment:

Penelope Lentz said...

Hi Bob,
Groovey work. No really, I like it.
Happy Holidays to you and Kate.
Penny Lentz
Your knucklebrain friend from OPAG, SLO