blue glass and green

With this painting I found my inspiration with the colors of the objects. The pale green Poppytrail platter and yellowgreen Bauer bowl. The color of these two pieces of pottery made me want to paint them. I added the blue glass and quartz sphere to add more interest. Painting glass is freeing. To capture the illusion of glass you go for an impression of what you see. I don't literally try to capture every nuance. If I did I would end up with something overworked and distracting in my composition. In this painting it is the shadow of the glassware that place the objects within the bowl.

8" x 8" oil on board

Thinking of painting glass I am reminded of an early painting I did around age 13 after receiving my first set of acrylic paints. I painted a bunch of zinnias in a glass bowl, set with an arched recess in a wall. The painting was maybe 12" x 16", the glass vase maybe 3" round. I had trouble painting the glass and asked my father for help. he used about 3 brushstrokes and made it look like glass to me. It was like magic. I would stare at the painting afterwards realizing that the brushstrokes captured the essence if the glass sphere more than a physical representation of it. I've learned not to be afraid of painting glass after that. About 20 years later I painted a large zinnia painting. Thinking at the time of that early painting. When my father saw it he said it reminded him of a painting he did years earlier. I knew it was the same painting he was thinking of. I suppose maybe he could of helped me paint more than that vase, but I remember it as my painting.