Ben Kellog - 16"x20" Green Rabbit - "Painting II - Broome Community College"

When an artist is allowed to choose the objects that are to be painted in a still life the resulting image is often a figurative self portrait of sorts. The painting can take on the personality and characteristics of the artist and become evident in the image. Without pinpointing the exact qualities in the still life that match my personality I feel this is true. As a work of art I would like to leave this open to the viewers’ interpretation and let each individual decide for themselves how the painting may or may not be a self portrait.

The objects were arranged within a box and a direct light source was used to create a dynamic range of high and low key areas. The brightest bright was the area of reflected light on the cognac snifter, one of the last spots of paint applied to the canvas. Other high key areas are the ears of the labbit and the right side of the spines of the books. White was added to the base colors used for these objects to act as a tint and show the areas of light. The low key areas fade into the background where the light could not reach and also in the areas of the cast shadows. The labbits shadow cast upon the books and underneath the figure as well as the area that makes up the soil in the plants pot are the lowest key values. The low key areas were achieved by adding raw umber to the base colors. Toning the colors down like this makes it low in chroma and was used in all of the cast shadows and negative space.

High, medium and low chroma areas are apparent throughout the painting. As said above the cast shadows and negative space were painted in low chroma. The colors muted to set them back, make them less prevalent. The most saturated areas of color are those that were painted with raw color, not tinted or toned, evident in the book furthest to the left, some of the leaves of the Christmas cactus, and the rear section of the labbit. Medium chroma areas are the in-between, not overly saturated pure color and not toned down or highly tinted colors. The middle areas of the spines of the books, the mid area of the labbit and again some of the leaves are all medium chroma.

Painting the objects in the still life was approached in a very formalistic way. Volume was created by varying the high and low key areas on the surfaces of the objects. The labbit, for example, has a sense of volume conveyed by the directions of the brush strokes that follow the contours of the figures shape. The darker areas are further away and the lighter areas closer. The plants pot has volume in the same way, the lightest area the closest and getting darker and lower in chroma as the form rolls away.

Depth was achieved by having a clear foreground, middle ground, and background. This sense of depth was created by the placement of the objects from the very beginning. The labbits cigarette and head starts out in front of the cognac snifter, which is in front to the plant pot, which is slightly in front of the books. The books then are clearly the furthest back and the depth is really felt by looking at the labbits head, following its body with the eye, and arriving at the background.

As stated earlier about the use of the direction of the brush strokes to achieve volume, variation in brushstroke scale and shape were used for a variety of effects. Big, blocky brush strokes were used initially to build the objects form by painting the planes. As the painting was worked the brush strokes became smaller and more specific as an attempt to show detail. Even the palate knife was used to scrape paint off the canvas to create the line that represents one of the highlights in the snifter. When large blocks of color were applied next to each other a clean brush was used to blend the colors creating new colors right on the canvas. This gives a feeling of “fresh, clean, painterly passages which are not overworked!” The negative space, particularly the yellow area, was achieved by scumbling and diffusing the yellow with the raw umber that was already on the canvas. All of these effects help to create a sense of atmospheric space which feels warm by the yellows and oranges but balanced with the blues and greens.