Tag: persimmons

Persimmon-O-Lution

A lot of people I follow in the contemporary oil painting world are of the school of “paint it and forget it”. That is easily done if you have a lot of experience perhaps. For me, since I don’t plot out compositions too much nor do preliminary studies, this doesn’t work too well. I am of the wing-and-a-prayer school, using what I do know, and proceeding to let things evolve. Somehow I find that more satisfying.

Below is the final (for now) rendition of some persimmons. These are fresh fuyu persimmons which appear in the grocery stores for a few weeks and then vanish. They can be dried and are quite delicious. Hachi persimmons make great bread – a fruit and nut bread. There are even persimmons native to North America and may be found in the southeastern areas of the United States.

It seems pretty well settled as a painting except for the background to the upper right of the persimmons. It is a bit too yellow for my taste, but as I am considering whether or not to leave the overall back and foregrounds on the lightish side, this is something to be addressed once that decision is made.

Prior to this painting, I made an underpainting to set up colors and values and composition. This one I was pondering about – the lower left hand corner needed something, so I put in a persimmon leaf. Then, the painting was banished for about a week, to dry as well as to be able to look at it with fresh eyes.

I didn’t like the leaf. In general, though, I did like the painting. I decided to remove the leaf using the generative background PhotoShop element to remove it. You can see the results below.

Much better!! And so I painted the leaf out with fairly thick paint and made the adjustments you see in the first painting of this post.

Like I said, painting is an evolutionary process in many ways. With watercolors you are sort of stuck with what you put down, so plotting and planning – to a point – is necessary. Being able to anticipate is a big part of watercolor. All other media can be fixed and corrected. Mistakes can be hidden and reworked. I prefer oil to acrylic and gouache as that the paint is very malleable – you can moosh it around, wipe it off, and so on. Acrylics dry too fast for this, even with retardants. Gouache paint can lift (with artist gouache, not acrylic gouache) up and reveal the layers beneath if applied too thickly. Alkyds added to oil paints speed up the drying process and odorless mineral spirits help make oil painting a less stinky medium.

I will continue to paint in oils for the most part. Acrylic paint may provide an underpainting at times. Evolution can be a bit of fun, and these persimmons have been a real delight so far.

Oil paint, 10×10 cotton canvas on board.

Below, click through the paintings to see the progress of with leaf, without leaf, and semi-finalized painting.

Persimmons, ii

With this entire week off for Thanksgiving, I have free time.  No rush like at Christmas.  Other family members will be serving up dinner, which means I don’t have anything to do, other than show up and be charming!  Josh is making tiramisu for dessert – off the hook there.  So easy.

Not really.  I’ve brought work home to do, such as contracts and letters of recommendation, but in that mix I certainly plan to do some fun things.  The latest Harry Potter movie is slated for the next couple of days, as is time to knit and paint and work out and walk and take some photos and read and learn some software.  Maybe a day trip to Santa Monica, too.

And paint I have – with disastrous results.  Persimmons are far harder to do than I was thinking – and I can see what not painting has done as well:  I’ve lost the knack.  Sure, I know I will get it back, but it is not a lot of fun to be frustrated!  More importantly, though, is realizing that, although I enjoy photography, I also love having things in my hands to manipulate – a brush, a knitting needle, a trowel, a mixing spoon.  Photography is a bit more intellectual even though I like the gut approach, too, of thinking of something, and trying it out.  It also can be cumbersome, and I really like to travel light.  Lugging around a dog and a camera is not fun, especially if the dog sees a squirrel!

Here are my persimmon paintings.  Yuck.

I certainly plan on working on the subject matter a lot.  The part where the fruit attaches to the tree is rather interesting – the area is square and continues that square shape into the leaves at a 45 degree angle, creating a rather interesting pattern of diamonds within diamonds.  The shape of the hachiya persimmon is longer and pointed, sort of like an acorn, while the fuyu persimmons are squat.  Luckily, both are available in the market right now.  Mine are getting moldy.