Sweet and Sour
There’s a sweet story in this painting! I will share shortly. However, I could not resist naming this painting “Sweet and Sour.” Why? Imagine the contrasting tastes of the flask and the lemon. Welcome to this week’s painting which is a part of a series I started back in January and is called “My Favorite Things.”
In this post, I share a story about this painting. Then I describe some materials I use and artist notes, too. Here’s hoping this painting and blog offer you some comfort and respite from the current, crazy world in which we live.
Sweet Story
OK here’s the story! The first time I met my father-in-law, Pete, he and my mother-in-law, Trish, had just flown in from England. En route, they had two flight delays. So, by the time we arrived at our place, it was after midnight.
Pete walked into our house and made a beeline for the tea kettle. Like any proper Brit, he fired up the front burner to prepare his first Stateside cup of tea. David and I supported the task and put mugs, milk and tea out.
When the friendly tea kettle started to sing, Pete walked over to it. He didn’t surprise me when he turned off the burner. However, imagine my surprise, when he pulled a silver flask out from his tweed jacket. He unscrewed the top and poured a solid shot glass of ‘something’ into both cups of tea!
With that, Pete told us “That should do it for tonight!” and he and Trish were off to bed. Wow! I decided right then and there we needed an extra accessory for tea. So, the flask in this painting is a tip of the hat to Pete and Trish. We know they are home and safe and sound now. We just wish we could see them enjoy their special cuppa in person. For now, we’ll think of this memory and smile!
Artist Notes
For several weeks now, I have been painting with a limited palette. That is, I have scaled back from using 20+ colors to 5 or 6 colors. Last week, I used Phthalo blue which was a lovely color to capture the blue tea towel in the painting. However, painters joke that if Phthalo Blue were a person, you would remember it as the most obnoxious voice at a party. This week, I use a different blue. Ultramarine blue, unlike Phthalo, is the friend at the party that everyone wants to be around. It’s a firm blue but it plays well with others. I enjoyed reaching for Ultramarine blue for the light and the shadows in the white fabric. (Thank you for the metaphor and RIP Angie).
I also used Ivory black. Ooh la la the greens you get when you mix Cadmium Yellow and Ivory black are delicious! And, that combination kept cropping up in the lemon and in the warmer parts of the flask too.
Cadmium Yellow Confession
Here are the colors in the limited palette for this week: Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Ivory Black, Quinacridone Magenta and Cremnitz White. So, I need yellow to paint that luscious little lemon in the painting. Don’t you agree? Yes, of course!
However, I confess I am not a huge fan of yellow. I wish I knew why. But I also know I am not alone in my sentiment. Check out color consultant and friend, Barbara Clare’s latest post. She, too, confesses to an admiration of but not a strong affinity for yellow. Ah well given her expertise as a color consultant, I feel as if my ‘meh’ feeling towards yellow is in good company.
Quinacridone Magenta
Why Quinacridone Magenta this week? Well, first of all, I had a dark burgundy background. And, I thought it would be fun to use a cool red in this week’s painting.
I used it in more places than expected. Really? Yes, I did. I mixed it with burnt sienna for a warmer red in the background. And, I also used it in the greys of the white napkin too.
For Sale
This “Sweet and Sour” painting is for sale for $375. Simply click here to pay securely and safely via PayPal. And, sign up here to receive weekly notifications of new paintings and posts. Thank you!
Please share your sweet and sour stories in the comments below.
8 Comments
Beth Dyer Clary
April 16, 2020Julie! So many questions. But first, I love this painting. Well, I love them all but this one came at a perfect time. More on that later. My questions:
1. What was in Pete’s flask? Great story but you leave me hanging on that question!
2. Did Angie give you the party metaphor for blues? Did she die? Oh no I hope I’m misreading that.
3. Why, and maybe I missed this in a previous post, only five paints? I’d be curious, and I bet others would be too, as to why five and how you choose them – by the object(s) to be painted or by your mood, or what?
4. Finally, more a comment than a question – you don’t like yellow? I LONG for daffodils and forsythia on the gloomy winter days. It’s what makes me smile. It’s a happy color for me. Is that not so for you?
Great post,
Beth
Julie Holmes
April 16, 2020Hiya Beth!
Thanks for reading and for all of your questions.
1. Pete had a nip of something…can’t remember if it was Brandy or Cognac…ha!
2. Yes Angie told me the metaphor. She did die a week ago. She was a 28 year old student at school who struggled with depression. You are not misreading.
3. I have blogged a bit about using a limited palette ever since taking a workshop here in Raleigh in March. The instructor suggested the idea. I have often thought about it but never really given it a go. So the last 4 paintings and posts have been with a limited palette. The ‘meaning’ of limited is just that…instead of using all 23 colors that I used at school, I am limiting the choice to at least 1 red, 1 blue and 1 yellow plus ivory black and cremnitz white. I have tried different reds, blues and yellows. It has been a wonderful learning experience!
4. As for yellow, I used so little of it when I had 23 colors from which to choose. I was always getting more reds and blues at the school store. But my yellow just didn’t get used that much. Now that I am limiting my palette, I am using it more. And, I do love painting lemons and yellow fruits like pears. But it’s not my favorite color by any stretch!
Anywho -thank you for the interest and questions!
Alla
April 16, 2020I love your stories about colors, Julie! And of course, lovely painting!
I am very impressed with your ability to keep this blog AND make great art!
By the way, in my childhood in Russia, my mom sometimes gave me and my brother a teaspoon of cognac in our tea! It was the most delicious thing ever!
Julie Holmes
April 16, 2020Hi Alla,
I am so excited to hear from you here! Thank you for reading. It makes sense that you, as a fellow painter, might enjoy and understand my color stories. Yay!
And your childhood story of a little bit of ‘special sauce’ in your tea is so delightful! Thanks so much for reading and sharing here.
Take care
Kristina Philipson
April 17, 2020Julie, I love this painting. I’ve always had a curiosity about and admiration for paintings of reflective, metallic surfaces. (How do they do it??). Your father-in-law sounds like quite the character! Great story. Thank you.
Julie Holmes
April 17, 2020Hi Kristina,
Thank you for enjoying the painting!
The “how” question is one a struggled with quite a bit while I was in school. I painted many different matte and metal surfaces.
Here’s what I learned:
1. most metal objects are in the “grey-ish” category
2. at school we never used black as a pigment, ever. So we would mix the three primary colors (red, yellow, blue) or two compliments (blue and orange or green and red or yellow and purple, for instance) to get grey.
3. but there are always relative variations of that “grey”
4. in this painting, I had cool light on the grey metal flask(from the studio skylight)
5. I knew I had a green-ish grey in the flask…especially compared to the white-ish fabric in the shadows (more blue-ish grey)
6. I also had a rich warm reddish background…I think this helped further emphasize the cooler grey flask
7. fact is, this entire painting would look different had I used a cooler or a lighter background
8.so there’s a lot of comparing and analyzing one color to the other. This goes on in the painting of the metal object…or any object in a painting
And, that analysis is what makes the painting process so alluring, absorbing and exhausting all at once!!!
I hope this wasn’t an ‘information overload’ answer for you! Thanks again for reading!
Kathy Michaud
April 19, 2020Hi Julie,
I love this painting! Love the flask & the reflection of the lemon. Your story about Pete is charming & I can imagine them taking their tea & heading for bed after a too long flight. Wonder how he got his flask through TSA?
Julie Holmes
April 20, 2020Hi Kathy!
Thanks so much! Painting the lemon reflection was definitely the fun part of this still life. As for Pete’s wiley ways and ability to sneak his flask through TSA? Hmmm…there’s probably a whole story there, too. Will have to see if he remembers how he managed it!