Unique Graduation Gift

This painting is in complete contrast to the North Yorkshire series that I have been working on.

Extra Curricular
14x11", Oil on canvas

This still life painting represents a young man's extra curricular activities while in high school. As a painter I find it interesting and a nice change of pace to gain inspiration from some one's interests and accomplishments which result in  painting subject matter that I would not have otherwise imagined painting. His passions vary from sports to music and my challenge was to convey that to the viewer as well as create a keepsake of original art, a unique graduation gift, that will tell a story of this special time in his life.

 Where does the inspiration come from? It did not come from seeing this guitar, or the colorful combination of the ski goggles, helmet, or the edgy line designs on the skis. It came from the person these objects represent.

At this stage I started painting in all similar colors of golds and rusts throughout the painting. This saves time and energy when time is of the essence.

I mixed black by combining equal parts of Ultramarine Blue and Transparent Oxide Red together and then painted in as much of the black as  I could.

Next, I painted in the white with Titanium White mixed with a small dab of the Ultramarine Blue and an even smaller amount of Transparent Oxide Red. Once the white was in, I could paint more of the detail like the netting on the lacrosse stick.

The  drama for me came when I was finally able to add color; pink, lavender and orange on the helmet strap, the yellow lacrosse ball and then the red on the ski goggles.

  At this point I realized that the background looked incomplete. A multi-colored background seemed more appropriate for a multi-faceted person. I applied the paint with a palette knife and then softened the sharp edges with a filbert brush.