Playing with Planes

"Planes on Pears"
Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30
(c) Lesley Powell 2020
(Available at Huff Harrington Fine Art)

Lately I've been painting quite a few still lifes in my studio. I've become obsessed with the yellows and greens of lemons and pears. And I've taken to heart the rule of thumb that "Where there is a plane change, there is a color change".  (Translation for non-painters: where an object's contour changes, the light it reflects changes, and thus its color changes).

It's easy to see the planes on a cube.  Not so easy to see on a rounded object, such as a human head. Or, more prosaically, a lemon or a pear.  Careful observation is required!

"Jug, Lemons, Pear"
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16
(c) Lesley Powell 2020
(SOLD)

With subjects like this, the fun is in the SEEING. It's a challenge not only to detect where the plane changes occur, but also to see the sometimes subtle color changes that result from the change. 

"Three Lemons and Creamer"
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16
(c) Lesley Powell 2020
(Available at Huff Harrington Fine Art)

One great master of this challenge was the British painter Euan Uglow. I hesitate to show his work in the same post as mine, because my work pales so in comparison, but just to make my case, see Uglow's lemon below. So beautifully observed and rendered. 

I've been trying to take some lessons from Uglow. If you remember my prior posts, learning from the masters is a time honored method of honing your skills. It's very humbling, yes. But as the poet Robert Browning wrote, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed one's grasp, or what's a heaven for?"