Painstaking Process

“Study in Silence No. 1” was created through a traditional, layered painting process that has shaped still life practice for centuries. The arrangement was composed under controlled lighting to observe how illumination moved across fruit, through glass, and along the small folds of red cloth beneath them.

The work began with a series of small preparatory sketches to explore balance, spacing, and the quiet tension between the three objects. A painted color study followed, clarifying the harmony of warm and cool tones and refining the overall atmosphere before beginning the final piece.

Once the structure was set, the composition was lightly transferred to a hand-primed panel using soft charcoal. Only the essential forms were indicated. The finer details were left to develop slowly through close, attentive observation.

A monochromatic underpainting was then created to establish the architecture of light and shadow. This foundational step ensured that the glow of the citrus, the cool depth of the plum, and the subtle reflections within the glass would remain coherent and grounded as layers of color were added.

With the underpainting complete, thin layers of transparent color were applied through glazing. This technique allows light to pass through the paint film, creating the optical mixtures and subtle transitions that give the fruit its luminosity and the glass its delicate shifts in tone. The red cloth, with its soft folds and warm highlights, was built in similar layers to maintain harmony across the composition.

The painting emerged over many days of careful, incremental work, each layer adding clarity and depth. The final piece is shaped by patience, precision, and the enduring discipline of close, sustained looking.