I have more images from this work in progress. I'm starting to get into the fine detail parts such as the texture on the matches and the very small letters. It's mostly the letters in this painting that will consume most of my time.
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The hard work and patience has paid off. It took me a couple of years as a finalist at the Luminarts Visual Arts Competition, but I am finally a Luminarts Fellow. I also was awarded $5,000!
I am thrilled to be once again accepted as a finalist at the Luminarts Cultural Foundations Visual Arts Competition. There were around 400 applications this year and only about 30 were chosen to be finalists. Five finalists will be awarded $5,000 grants on the night of the reception, May 12th 5:30 - 7:00pm. I will be displaying two paintings in the show, "Remembering Iwo Jima", and "Walked in Lincoln's Steps". Also, as last year, the event will be held at the Union League Club of Chicago. This is a one night show, so May 12th will be the only chance to see it. There is more information on my other site by clicking Events.
As you can see the background has sunken in a bit since you last saw it while wet. This will be fixed later on when I oil it out and add the detail to the green wooden shadow box. For now, I'm still working on the second layer on the ration items. The pictures below show me correcting the values on the spam can. In previous posts I was demonstrated my process on the WWII rations painting. While sections of that piece were drying, I completed this cookie painting below. I typically have two paintings in progress at the same time to give myself something to work on if the other needs time to dry. The Oreo interests me because it's an iconic brand that dates back all the way to 1912; I believe the version and styling of the Oreo as we know it came about in the early 1950's. It fascinates me how a simple, manufactured food item has become such a common part of society for so many generations. My goal with this piece was to capture it's iconic beauty by painting the face of a single Oreo in great detail. I also paired it with an original Krazy Straw and glass of milk. For additional interest and perhaps a bit of suspense, I balanced the cookie on the lip of the glass. In my previous post, I mentioned how I wanted to try Spam; just for bragging rights. How bad could it be? Well, turns out, it's not great. I pan fried my Spam and placed it in a grilled cheese sandwich. The meat tastes like salty, mushy ham with a tinny finish. It's edible, but not recommended. In fact, I think it ruined my grilled cheese. I powered through the meal but I'm confident to say, Spam will be much better as a still life prop in my painting than in my sandwich.
I already have a good start on my next painting which will continue the WWII theme. Some how I stumbled upon a website that makes reproduction rations served to WWII servicemen. It interested me to see the food and items distributed to the men in the early 40's, especially the 4 - pack of cigarettes and of course the can of spam relabeled as, "Pork Luncheon Meat". I've never had spam, but this project has me wanting to try some lol. For this still life, I decided to set the items up in a army green shadow box. The shadow box has been used in trompe l'oeil painting since the beginning but it is something I haven't utilized in my work yet; we'll see how I like it. I also build the frame for this painting too. I prefer to make my frames and drill all the necessary mounting holes before I start painting. Once the piece is completed, the frame and hardware can easily be installed. I decided a while back its too risky for me to be drilling and fitting a completed painting for a frame. This is also my first attempt at a floating frame. Normally, all of my painting receive a traditional style frame that covers the edges of the work. However, for this piece, I think it will look best with the edges exposed. The frame is made from a solid 2" by 2" piece of red oak, a bit overkill, but I really like the way it looks. It just needs a bit of sanding and a couple coats of black paint. With all the prep work out of the way, I can finally start laying down the first layer of paint. Here are the final photographs of the completed painting. If you want to see how I photograph my art, check out my photographing art page here.
Painting rust is quite easy. I like to start by brushing on a very thin layer medium. This serves to oil out this section of the painting and provides a "couch" of medium to paint detail into. Then I'll add some of the finer rust texture with a worn out bristle brush. I paint the larger specks with a small round. Finally, I dab on the highlights a bit thicker to give them a more real appearance. |
Kyle Surges's Oil Painting Blog
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