Paul Wolber Art Studio

Strawberries in Cut Glass Bowl

My new digital camera also allows me to get better representation of color in the photos I post. I’m using the new Nikon D-40 and find this camera gives me good control of digital photos in the macro mode. The digital images I’m posting on-line are as close as I can get them to the original painting, but one must be aware that differences in computer monitors can skew the colors from the original image that is posted. Also the way a painting is lighted on the wall after it is purchased can make a big difference in what you see. I use natural sunlight neon tubes and Philips® Natural Sunshine screw-in bulbs in my studio and have measured the lighting at my easel to be sure it comes as close as possible to natural outdoor lighting.

I’ve also studied and tested color when teaching color classes, so try to maintain the highest level of color saturation in paintings even though many of my paintings deliberately use a limited palette to keep good color harmonies working together in the design.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber 2007

Red Grapes with Glass Bowl and Carved Wood Table

Red Grapes with Glass Bowl and Carved Wood Table
5in. x 7in. (12.7cm x 17.8cm ) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
SOLD
To see all my past work on this blog click HERE.



I’m back in the studio after spring break and a short vacation. We saw several exhibitions including the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Detroit Art Institute and an exhibition of Anthony Ryder’s work at Hillsdale College. We also had some great meals with friends in the Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills area of Michigan.

After seeing the Anthony Ryder paintings and drawings, I was inspired to revisit classical realist still life again. While my work has evolved over the years all the way from abstract expressionism in graduate school to a formal realist style, I’ve also been influenced by Impressionism and Paul Cezanne.

This painting of grapes is one of the small paintings resulting from this study of Classical Realism. Surprisingly, I ended up using a very limited palette of colors. The colors I used were Naphthol Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Cerulean Blue Hue, Ultramarine Blue, Mars Black, and Titanium White.

The surface I paint on is very carefully prepared. For the small paintings, 1/8 inch Masonite® board is prepared with usually five coats of gesso with each coat sanded to a smooth surface before the next coat is applied. Sometimes I use a colored ground over the gesso. Colored grounds are usually a deep Bolos Red or a deep Blue Green depending on the ambient light in the painting I’m going to do. The colored ground concept goes all the way back to painters in Venice during Renaissance and Baroque periods of history. This Grapes painting, however, was painted directly on the white gesso surface.

Sometimes an idea presents itself and I just have to paint it without thinking about purpose or message. This painting just fell into place and I enjoyed the colors, forms and simplicity of the composition. There's nothing more to say except to enjoy the visual experience.