Pearl Strands by Heather Herche 16"x20" Oil on canvas - Painting II - Broome Community College"

Pearl Strands - 16" x 20"

For this assignment I chose to paint a string of black/blue pearls and strings of beads on a silk scarf. The best part about my composition is that the string of pearls farther back is in shadow. This allows for there to be huge difference in chroma. The scarf behind the pearls in shadow is extremely low in chroma compared to the scarf in the foreground. There is a huge contrast in colors between the foreground and the background. I angled the light this way on purpose to give the painting more interesting points. This allowed for use of high and low chroma and lots of shadows. This also helps to give the painting a sense of depth. Also just the difference in the two strands of pearls makes for an interesting painting. I think the stands of beads coming out of the jewelry box give a sense of atmosphere and the reflection of the beads in the wood turned out really nice. I used an academic style to paint the entire canvas. I changed this after the painting looked too stiff. To smooth out the different edges for a softer look I used my little finger. I scumbled the paint where two colors were alongside one another. This give the piece a finished more stylized look.