[Early Years] "Foil Things" (9x12 oil on panel) painting process and animation

in #art7 years ago

Good morning Steemians and Artists,
Today I'm showing you the painting that started my obsession with foil.

still_life_151stagesteemitthumb.jpg

detail

Here is the physical setup:

still_life_151stage00.jpg

Here is the beginning stage. A block-in with umber (on a very colorful ground....a little of this shows through in the end):

still_life_151stage01.jpg

Next stage. My initial plan is to make the foil goblet the primary focal point, with the apple in support.

still_life_151stage02.jpg

Next stage. I'm painting directly with a knife, which is a great way to get a lot of paint down quickly (Caveat: as long as you've become as comfortable handling a knife as you are handling a brush. Just like with the brush, the only path is through practice and repetition. Fully half of my career has been spent with knife in hand.).

still_life_151stage03.jpg

Next stage:

still_life_151stage04.jpg

Next stage:

still_life_151stage05.jpg

I wanted something small and round to help with the composition on the right side, but couldn't find anything small and round to wrap with foil. I ended up using my giant track ball mouse and just scaling it down.

Although my initial goal was to make the goblet the focal point, the apple clearly wins out. Had I been able to more successfully push the dominance of darks and lights in the goblet (and restrained the value range in the other foil objects), it might have stood a chance at overtaking the isolated green of the apple. But in this case the apple is the odd man out, and the foil has been painted as the common element. It's all about how it's painted. In the end, I was happy with this switch in focal point, but as a rule you have a much better chance of success if you establish the dominance of your main focus throughout the entire process. I got lucky.

And the finished painting, "Foil Things" (9x12 oil on panel, 2012):

still_life_151stagefinal.jpg

And here is a gif animation of that process:

still_life_151animation.gif

Thanks for reading! -David

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Trully awesome to see how a professional does things! Thanks @davidcheifetz

Thank you! :)

Good job! it's not easy to paint the foil in the still-life or in any painting. I love to use palette knife as well. Following you and upvoted.

Thank you! The knife is a great tool. :D

That's pretty wild. Did you use any metallic paints or is it mostly black and white?

When I paint foil (or an reflective metal) I end up using most of my palette, depending on the surroundings of the objects. The environment of the setup will determine the reflections and thus the colors used. White, black, blue, red, yellow ochre, umber, etc.... Observation is key

The knife technique is cool, I like how the painting becomes more and more... real... as the details are put in. This is so creative.

Thank you very much!

That's crazy-awesome. Making paint seem metallic without actually being metallic paint... Love that line about half your life spent with a knife in your hand, like Jack the Ripper of painting :)

haha, yeah :D. Thanks glad you like it!

I agree with all the other post, It's fantastic work!

Holy crap, that's crazy that you can make foil look like actual foil. Mind is blown!

Haha, awesome, thanks!

Woha! :D <3 This is so cool.. I love the texture of the foil and then the little punch of green from the apple... Great stuff!

Thank you, Glad you like! :)

This is a skill, I would love to master! I have not painted in so long :( Great work! Keep it up!

Awesome! Im surprised you covered the whole board before working on the apple :P