Kiwi I

Kiwi Fruit (or Torpedo Fruit Bowl), 60 x 85 cm., mixed media on board

I have made a goal to have 16 paintings done by the end of May - 8 fruit paintings and 8 creative paintings. Despite the fact that I am not feeling incredibly artistically inspired I feel like I need to take the spare time I have and create something. Living in Korea is incredibly distracting (visually the creative juices just aren't at their usual flow) but I want to take advantage of the situation as an artist. I have had two exhibits in Italy, why not add Korea to my international list. If do well here I may be able to get some residencies in China of Japan next year which will be a great way to travel when we are done in Korea!

So, this was a fruit attempt thought I must say it was almost thrown into the "creative" category.

So, this piece went through a lot of unintended layers. I did a few quick sketches before I went to the actual surface. The sketches were done in ink on butcher paper. On the second sketch I did some work with pastels and them painted over the pastels with a mixture of water and flour (mostly to adhere the color). Once I was comfortable with the layout I took a loaded brush (ink) and quickly sketched out the painting. My plan was to use brown paper and collage the shapes of the kiwi in. Sometimes I draw much better with tearing paper than with a pencil or inked brush. Instead I just went right for the pastels. Before I knew it the "painting" was a drawing on board. The final touches were some shadows I drew in with watered down ink and a very small amount of acrylic paint that I used to paint the bottom of the bowl. At the very end I took a small brush and applied some flour/water to some spots on the kiwi. I then beat the lines out to give them a more unified feel (while still being able to see the lines). I need to find some varnish.



The bowl has a funky wood grain that is like pond ripples. I took the pattern up one notch on the exaggeration scale which I ended up really liking.

I think that this image is a nice view of the different techniques used. You can see the ink, pastel, acrylic and the effect of the flour and water.

I haven't quite finished. The bowl is almost to subtle for me. I have thought about making it red. Opinions? I also need to finish the edges, then it will be ready to sell. As soon as I have a few paintings done I'll be re-posting on etsy and I will start looking for galleries.

Happy March!