Totally Sconed

Off To The Races, 12"X 9", oil on linen, ©copyright Richard Luschek 2012

For my latest still life I decided to add a pastry to my typical coffee still life. I am not sure the percentage of still life paintings I have painted that include coffee but it is pretty high. It is probably pretty close to the same percentage of foods I consume- which is mostly coffee.
I was looking for some biscotti to add since I needed some 'yellow' to the picture but ended up getting a scone. I think this apricot, but I am not really sure. While it looked delicious, after a few days in the hot studio and evenings in the fridge I was not willing to eat it. Not sure about the title, I just chose that because the big nosed cartoon Italian on the coffee maker looks to be firing a gun to start a horse race.

3 hour lay-in, ©copyright Richard Luschek 2012

I am sure I have mentioned it on this blog before, but the lay-in is my favorite part of the painting process. Working fast to get  the "big" look is when I have the most fun. Even though I am making all the decisions that will result in a picture that will hopefully have the big impression, it almost seems like magic. While I enjoy the process from start to finish, everything after that first day feels like work.

Painting on the left, the still life set up is on the right.

Day 2, ©copyright Richard Luschek 2012

The second day, the picture is made to look more like nature, slowly coming into focus. I made up some coffee in cup. I had picked up some coffee to put in the cup, but I drank it all.

Day 3, ©copyright Richard Luschek 2012

 

 

 

 

This time I managed to save some coffee to put in the cup. I was doing my best to finish the painting on the third day. I didn't, but I got it close.
On the forth day I decided I needed to improve the design, correct some of the values and make sure the wax paper looked a bit more transparent- which means I had to repaint it. I strengthened the light effect and worked some of the leading edges. I added some steam to get a bit of life into the painting.

Day 4- Off To The Races, 12"X 9", oil on linen, ©copyright Richard Luschek 2012