100 Paintings by Adam

Month: June 2010

Apple Bowl, Part II

Here is number 35, which is the sister painting of No. 32. As I mentioned in that one, Leslie forbid me from doing anything else to it after the first take and I wanted to finish it so I started over. Personally, I like this one so much more. Not just because it is “finished” but because I took what was good about the other one and pushed it. Some of it is personal preference I guess but I am just happy I did it again and got it here.

This one is the last of the apples probably until the end. I have enjoyed staying on a subject and it has made me better at painting them, but I am tired of apples. The next six or so will be from the Georgia coast and they are shaping up nicely.

This is an 8″ x 8″, original oil painting, done on stretched canvas.

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Morning Sail

So I got behind the last couple of months and have been trying to figure out the best way to catch up. What I’ve come up with is to do a series of smaller paintings within the 100 that are quicker and easier than my main ones. Since these are smaller and faster I am selling these for a flat $15.00. These will (I think) all be 8″ x 6″ and will be studies for the larger and tighter ones.

Number 34 is the first of these new ones and is the first real step into the next set I am working on. We recently took a trip to Amelia Island and while I was there I took a number of photos. There are some beautiful places there and I can’t wait to see what comes out of these. This particular shot was from a boat as we went around Cumberland Island. I have a large (16″ x 8″) version of this in the works and it should be interesting to see how they compare.

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Mirror, Mirror

Here’s number 33. I’m almost done with apples (this is the next to last one, at least for a while) and it’s the first time I’ve used an object like the silver bowl with it.

This is a relatively simple composition but there are some tricky things going on with it. For some reason, after working on it for a while, the apples took on certain personalities. The one in the front is looking at itself in the bowl – admiring it’s beauty. The other, in the background, is either lurking or clearly feels lower than the apple out front.

Technically, painting the bowl & reflection was a little tricky. With a reflection all bets are off. The shape, color and perspective are all backwards and mixed up so you have to just paint the fields of color. I also had to paint the reflection much looser so it would not compete with the one out front.

That’s it for now. See you Sunday!

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A Tale of Two Apple Bowls

There is a story behind this one. I have been trying to get “closer” with my first pass at the canvas as this year has gone by. Instead of just flubbing my way through the first sitting I am trying to concentrate and really get it as complete as I can. Other painters like Karen Jurick and Carol Marine sit down, paint it once and they are done. But the thing is, I’m not there yet.

So, I started this one a few weeks back and had it lined up to “fix” – that was until Leslie decided it was done. We went back and forth about how I saw this totally as a start and she thought it was good the way it was. She was afraid that I would screw it up.

I normally just ignore her and push on but she protested so much that I decided we would take the Pepsi Challenge. Instead of risking it on this guy I started the exact same painting this weekend and should have it done by Sunday. So, this one now belongs to Leslie. We will see what the tighter one looks like.

My philosophy is that you have to possess the ability to nail the tight aspects of a painting before you can start taking things out and boiling it down. Then again I love sweater vests.

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The Outsider

So, here we are again. It’s been a full month since the last one and it feels like longer than that. I think the break was a combination of both getting worn out from painting and a collision of things at work that just would not stop. But, here we are and I am (hopefully) back in the groove and ready to go. I’m behind a good bit now but have a plan for how to crank it up and still hit number 100 by the end of December. We’ll see.

Number 31. I had this guy started a month ago and just worked on it bit by bit for a long time. I have two more apples to go before moving on and this one was a unique challenge. First off, adding four different apples into the mix was four times the work over just one. It’s not like they get easier to paint if you put more in. Also, there are four apples in this painting – not three or five (like they teach you in art school). Leslie and I got in an argument about this but I liked it the way I had it. Four may be “wrong” but it felt right to me so I kept it. Once I got the color in and it took shape it became more clear that it was really three apples and one apple – which in a weird way is why it works. He’s not a part of the group but wants to be.

So there you go. This one is already sold (thanks Chris!) but more will be on the way this weekend and next week.

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About Adam Houston

Adam Houston is an American impressionist oil painter. He lives outside of Athens, GA and paints the landscape of the surrounding country. In 2010 he began the blog 100 Paintings by Adam where he documented his progress as an artist.  

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