Still Life with Hot Sauce

9" x 12"

oil on gessoed panel

Less is more. That's a phrase we hear all the time in alla prima painting. How much detail needs to be spelled out and how much needs to be left to the imagination? It's entirely up to the artist and that's why fifty artists can paint the same thing and you'll have fifty versions of a scene, no matter what it is. Have fifty photographers take a picture of the scene and you might get some different results too, depending on the ability of the photographers, but they won't be as drastically different as the painters'.

What compels you to paint something? Obviously, it;s not always beauty, because looking at a bratwurst on a bun makes most folks hungry. For some reason, it inspired me; the burnt sienna tones juxtaposed against the blackened portions of the meat, contrasting with the pristine whiteness of the bun. I never know exactly what draws me to a subject. The pepper mustard was sitting on the counter next to the brat, so it was a natural choice. Would I throw hot sauce on it as well? Not in real life, but the shape and color of the bottle seemed like a nice foil for the other subjects.

My subjects were set up in less than five minutes, and I added a spotlight for drama and listened to an audio book as I spent a couple hours creating a painting.