$260
Date
2023
Medium
Oil paint on canvas – unframed
Size
8″ x 8″
I kept the lobster claw, body, and shell in a basket by the window in Maine for several years. They had bleached to white. This still-life was motivated by exploring the lack of color. It turns out it takes a lot of colors to represent white.
Process
This is more like a color block-in at this point.
I thought I was finished. When I took it to show my teacher, Syndey Sparrow, she remarked that it was a great start, and with another pass or so, I’d really be able to get the shells to pop. Also, Kay, a person in my evening class with Sean Beavers, said the lobster face was a bit vague. I hated to admit it, but they were both right, and I wasn’t done.
The thing about painting white objects is that you don’t have a lot of range to work with. To get the objects to “pop,” I could only go darker on the rest of the painting. I also fixed the lobster’s face a bit.