The E-Lemon-ator

11x14 inches. Oil on Canvas.

..when life gives you lemons...e-lemon-ate them...

Learning Points:
1. I am learning just how easy wood surfaces can be. Once the middle value color that I want to use is there, I scrumble randomly lighter and darker values.
2. Lemons. I am still struggling with this color and making it look relistic.
3. Inventing from memory and imagination. I set up this still life, but the lemon juice on the counter was not there, and the knife reflections on the blade were not right, so I invented them. I also invented the wood surface because it was set up on my kitchen counter which is linoleum and not as pretty.
4. Flooding the background with color. I blended and added the color of the lemon into the background color, as well as the color of the table.
5. Soft and hard edges. I softened the lemons to give them a glow, as well as some spots on the juicer. Also, the very back edge of the knife handle to make it receed more and not look pasted in.
6. Drama in composition. I put the knife going off of the counter. With the blade pointing out of the scene I wanted to bring the viewer back in, so I created the light reflections in the blade to point back in.
7. Threshold. There it is at the bottom. I could have just filled up the canvas more and had the wood edge go all the way to the bottom of the canvas, but wanted to try this instead.
8. Glass. Boy, these are tricky and the paint colors are a LOT darker than you think they are.