Dear Subscribers,
 
Greetings!
 
I've received some requests to share what I learned at the Leffel workshop. One tip in particular that I've been implementing lately is this: To go cooler and lighter in the background (right behind the objects) and richer/warmer and darker in the foreground. This helps the illusion of aerial perspective, just like in a landscape. Pretty cool stuff. I use this strategy in the following painting:
 
New mini.
The setup:

 
First stage:

 
Next stage:

 
Next stage:

 
And the finished painting, "Persimmon" (6x6):
 

 
(Click through the image above to get to the Facebook "Like" button!)
 
After this mini, I proceeded to bomb the next two paintings. It happens. Moving on.
However, I did complete my new triptych called "Grapes in Isolation". Not really. These are just some grapes from the last flop:
 
      
 
Grapes are fun.
 
On the upside, I cleaned the hell out of my workspace yesterday. I feel much better.
A quote from my favorite book about the creative process:
 
A Professional Seeks Order
         When I lived in the back of my Chevy van, I had to dig my typewriter out from beneath layers of tire tools, dirty laundry, and moldering paperbacks. My truck was a nest, a hive, a hellhole on wheels whose sleeping surface I had to clear each night just to carve out a foxhole to snooze in.
         The professional cannot live like that. He is on a mission. He will not tolerate disorder. He eliminates chaos from his world in order to banish it from his mind. He wants the carpet vacuumed and the threshold swept, so the Muse may enter and not soil her gown.
 
-Stephen Pressfield, "The War of Art" p.77

 
As I've mentioned before, I'm starting a still-life painting class next year. I am currently accepting deposits for January enrollment. Email for more info.
 
JUST SOLD!:

"Teacups & Searchlights"

Until next week,

David A. N. Cheifetz
www.davidcheifetz.com

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