Peppers, part II

Yeah, the peppers again... When I took the pepper painting to class the following week, everyone liked it...and then there was a discussion about adding some drama. Some of the students had been using very dark backgrounds in their paintings lately. What would that look like with the peppers?

I agreed the painting could use some darks, so I began experimenting. The voice in my head kept repeating, "It's only paper..." After all, I am taking a class - I need to experiment!

Here is the first attempt. I wanted it to still look like reflected glass...

I didn't like that particularly, so I washed it off and tried again.

Hmmm, maybe a little better. What about solid dark?

Well, that's dramatic all right, but now it's all about the window and not about the peppers! I showed this one to my class this week. They agreed, it was too much. They liked the other two pictured above (I had printed out the various iterations). Suggestion: use a sponge and wipe off some of the dark so the window has the streaked look...and let the streaks cross over the window frame to break up the sharp white lines.

I feel like the little kid in the backseat on a long trip..."Are we there yet?" ...