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Interesting Reflection Issue
While painting a particular passage today, I noticed that the reflection of a cast shadow in a piece of silver was substantially darker than the shadow itself. I could see that the cast shadow was being illuminated by the reflection onto the stone of a strong highlight immediately behind it. I also knew that there […]
Meditation: Silver, Wine, and Shell
The Story This painting is about capturing an instant of stillness and quiet. The inclusion of a small reflected image of the artist at work gives it a snapshot-like feeling. Not only is it a generalized moment of calm and contemplation, but it’s also very specific – that particular moment in the studio. The two […]
Mysterium
The Story This is the second of several paintings that are deliberately simplified. In this case the composition has been reduced to just one object. Working with such a restricted design meant that the painting needed to become an exploration of lighting and mood. The Technical Side “Mysterium” was done entirely from life (without […]
Summit No. 1
The Story This painting was the outcome of working with several interesting challenges. A respected figure in the community suggested doing a few paintings with simpler compositions. It was a suggestion worth taking, and this painting (as well as the next one) are the results. Limiting the amount of “action” in a this painting meant […]
Into the Light
The Story Three different ideas came together to inspire this painting; wedges, spotlights, and a particular mood. Wedges are common devices to help artists arrange their compositions. In fact, a wedge is just a partial pyramid, which is the simplest and most stable way to organize a picture. A recent blog post talks more about […]
New Work at Powers Gallery
My paintings “Crystallum” and “Warming Up” are now available at Powers Gallery in Acton, MA. For more information, please contact the gallery by phone at 978-263-5105 or by email at Lawrence@PowersGallery.com
Guardian
The Story There are no rules in art. But, there are suggestions, some of them quite strong. One of these is that paintings should not be completely symmetrical. Although a design with a strong central feature can be very stable, too much symmetry is usually felt to be undesirable – the risk is that it […]
Head and Shoulders
The Story The title of this painting is a simple pun. Not only is there a triple self-portrait (featuring basically head and shoulders), but the middle creamer towers – head and shoulders – above the other creamers. Taken together, they form a pyramid, which is the simplest and most stable compositional design. The reflections of […]
Catching up
Still catching up in the studio following last weekend’s show. This one is about halfway there. It will be a hard push to finish it by Tuesday evening, and then on to the current week’s painting.
Contemplation: Break for Tea
The Story Shows have a way of disrupting everything – especially production schedules in the studio – which is exactly what last weekend’s show did. Fortunately, they only occur twice a year, and it only takes about a week to get fully back on track. This is actually last week’s painting – the current week’s […]
Show this Weekend!
This weekend I’m having one of my semi-annual shows, offering you the opportunity to see my latest paintings in person. It’s being held Friday through Sunday in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Click the “Learn More” button below to see more information. Please come – I’d love to meet you!
Crystallum
The Story The story behind this week’s painting has less to do with the painting itself than with how I make paintings. I arrange most of my compositions in a shadow box positioned to the right of my easel. It works well, and I’ve used it for years. But, it limits me to a certain […]
Beacon
The Story The title of this painting is pretty self-explanatory, so I won’t dwell on it. I don’t generally care for paintings with lighthouses in them, but for some reason I wanted the challenge of putting one in a still life, at least in symbolic form. This painting took it’s start from the antique silver […]
Springboards
The Story Still Life is a genre that suffers from bad naming. It leads people to think of it as a quiet and sedate kind of art – even a little boring. Unfortunately, a lot of still life paintings fulfill those expectations. I suppose what we call it in English is better than what the […]
Huddle
The Story I very nearly called this painting “Castle Rock”, since it almost seemed to describe a Medieval fortress. The brick especially helped with that impression, since castles are often built on rock outcroppings. In the end, though, I was a little more drawn to the idea of the objects huddling together – for warmth? […]
Warming Up
The Story All the paintings so far for this year-long project have featured purely black backgrounds. I love the drama and simplicity of paintings set against such a backdrop. At the same time, I felt like having a lighter painting this week. So, I decided to work against a beige background (introducing some dramatic spotlighting […]
Race to the Top
The Story The story for this week’s painting unfolded as I worked on it. In fact, it grew out of a change I made to the design midway; see the technical discussion below. One of the pleasures of the creative process is that sometimes good ideas lurk just below the level of conscious awareness. This […]
Unity
The Story This week’s painting has two meanings – one semi-political and one very personal. I don’t think I’m being particularly controversial when I say I’ve had enough of the rancor in American public life – from both sides. I know it’s not going away anytime soon. I also know we’ve been through much worse […]
A Quick and Dirty Perspective Trick
Many artists – even established professionals – have an uneasy relationship with perspective. That’s understandable, given how involved it can be to figure out, say, the proper perspective of a complicated geometric shape with multiple vanishing points. It’s good, and I think necessary, to know how to do this. But, in the real world, I […]
The Grisaille Underpainting
There are multiple approaches to making an underpainting. A Grisaille is the simplest form, done with just black and white. Other forms include Verdaccio (done with shades of green), Brunaille (shades of brown), Dead Color (dulled, muted forms of the final colors) and so forth. An artist working with underpaintings will choose an approach based […]