Sitting in Drawing 1, my first drawing class in college, this was what was waiting for me: three oranges, a pear, a mug and a goblet.
My first foray into the world of painting things made of glass. I had to find out the hard way that translucent and transparent materials get their form from what is behind them and shining through them. It seems obvious now, but I had a habit of making things up on the canvas when it got tedious. I wish I could say that doesn't happen any more, but it does!
In this painting I completely invented the background. I wanted a smokey, atmospheric image, that allowed the items to pop in the foreground. I found that inventing the background made the colors in the glass forms incorrect, so I had to invent those as well. I was lucky that it turned into a more dynamic image than I was actually seeing at the time.
Quoth my art professor: "Why are you always inventing things?!"
I wanted to continue with the challenge of re-creating the look of glass. I began a series of experiments with a still-life set-up that remained the same through the entire process. Above is the chalk pastel creation. The background was accurate this time. The set-up was inside of a cardboard box that I made. I learned from the last one.
This painting is an abstract version of the set-up that traded detail in favor of (for lack of a better term) highlighting the highlights found in the glass. Not an amazing painting, but a fun experiment.
Because I'm ridiculously creative, the final product is titled Bottles. I covered the cardboard box that I constructed with a white sheet to add a variable appearance to light and shadows cast through the bottles. Maybe I shouldn't take credit for that...
Quoth my art professor: "Why don't you cover that up with some fabric? It would look better!"
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