Red Pear

My artist friend, Debbie Cannatella, invited me to come to her watercolor class with the wonderful group of ladies who included us in the fabulous week we recently spent in Ruidoso, New Mexico. They study with her for six week's periods and she has them painting like pros in the short time they have studied with her. Anyway, her method of tip-toeing into a painting is just really difficult for me and I wanted to give it a try when she told me what they were painting. (May I add that that gorgeous crystal bowl is mine and it's just my favorite piece of crystal to paint.) The blue Italian glass vase and amber candy dish were pieces we picked up on the way home from Ruidoso out in Roswell (right down the street from the "aliens" of Area 51). My attempt at going light to dark was dismal, so I reverted back to my dark to light method and might say that I am rather pleased with the results. The drawing and composition are Debbie's so I can't take credit for the originality of the piece and I did love all the elements she included. I'm at the "living with it" stage for a little while and am considering going back in with some more shadows on the fabric on the left and possibly a few more darks in the crystal bowl. Time will tell. I think I'm just putting off getting back to serious painting with my glass and stripes piece that has given me headaches and eye-strain. I have several more waiting in the wings and I really do need to finish that one first.