Starbucks' Orchids

[SweetBabyJ]

I found a new coffee cup- holds about a pint, and the shape was nice. Only problem with it is the Starbucks logo- I don't like Starbucks; it always tastes burned rather than roasted. But I was fooling around with the shapes and shadows of various coffee cups and stuff, and saw this- the shadow of the orchid kinda reminded me of a waitress pouring coffee. Sooo....

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Oct-2004/9169-orchids_and_coffee.jpg

I'm still looking for the right hue for the orchid shadow- it is complex- very dark, sharp and clear on the top flower, and then fading and blurring elsewhere- difficult to get. Needs to be a neutral, I'll find it- eventual. Whole thing is 36" x 24" or so, mix of softs and hards on Wallis

[Shottra]

Your picture is turning out nice. The composition is interesting. The cup and the barrel it sits on are very nicely done. The sheen on the furniture is realisic. I'm not able to give any advice on the colors to choose... I am a trial and error artist! Keep up the work. :)

[Dark_Shades]

this is really looking good SBJ ..... love the warmth and shadows you have already got... I recognise the barrel from your other work .... do you find it easier to work it from previous experience .... will watch with interest as always to see how this develops..... cant imagine ever working this big ..... keep going ya doing great

[SweetBabyJ]

Hi Julie- Julie here- glad you've posted, and thanks for your comments. I like quirky set-ups; I like it when something either shines out bright, or there's a subtle distortion or another way to see something.

Thanks, Dawn- the barrel thing is supposed to be like a planter, the lid opens on a hinge thing in back, but since I have a black thumb, I figured it was kinder to just keep it as a still life set-up ingredient. :D


Working the plant now as long as the thing's down on the floor pretty much and I can reach it. Since the orchids here are still alive (*gasp!) I'll be able to do them from life if I hurry- otherwise, I'll hafta use the pic. The coffee cup down front's a bit dusty now, but a quick swipe with my towel and it should shine again.


I think I've fixed the orchid shadow, too.


http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Oct-2004/9169-orchids_and_coffee02.jpg

Easier to work large than small, Dawn- trust me. More room for mistakes....

[Mikki Petersen]

This is going to be another stunning still life, Julie. The parts you've worked are already coming to life. The shadows are looking just right to my eye. And I do see them hovering over the cup like they are ready to pour.

[SweetBabyJ]

Thanks, Mikki. I think I hafta be about done for the day- went to fix the reflected light on that one leaf and damned near couldn't get back up, so I think it's hot soak and meds time for a few hours anyway.

So you gonna do some of those Garden of the Gods shots you took?

[ExpressiveAngie]

I am just gonna quietly feast my eyes and wonder to myself *how the heck does she do that* because even tho you do the wip's I still dont have a clue!

[*Deirdre*]

WOW! Impressive, to say the least! :)

[K Taylor-Green]

I am just gonna quietly feast my eyes and wonder to myself *how the heck does she do that* because even tho you do the wip's I still dont have a clue!
Don't feel bad, Angie. She leads me around that way, too!

Julie, gonna be another winner. It always amazes me, the odd combos you come up with, that not only work, they shine!!

[Khadres]

This is coming along very nicely indeed! And I thought I was the only one who thinks Starbucks coffee stinks like burnt rubber! Cool cup, tho. I love big cups...can't imagine getting any good outta the puny "tea" cups!

[Pinecone Conniff]

I have to admit that I love the iced mochas at Starbucks :) but not the hot coffee :( ...And I love the graceful orchid ready to pour the cup of coffee...the shadow is wonderful...this is going to be fun to watch!! :D
Annette

[Stoy Jones]

You certainly have a convincing degree of depth so far!..I think I'm being shown a photo with a light blue carboard cutout of a cup in the foreground :D

I'm like Angie and Kate, I'm being lead around, but don't really care. Your work is fun to watch! Keep up the great work!

Stoy

[SweetBabyJ]

lol all y'all- all's I'm doing now is colouring, really. The hard work's all been done- that was finding the colours, and making sure the darks were dark enough. I s'pose if I had one piece of pastel advice it'd be "Go darker than you think you need to- you can always lighten a dark, but it's hard to darken a light."

Let's see, the other thing is lay your background in first- that way, you can use those colours for highlights and shadows as necessary, and start playing complements off each other. Plus, well, the background is kinda like overcooked green peas on your plate: Yulch. You know you gotta eat 'em, so may as well get 'em out of the way first and then go on to the stuff you like.

Preston told me, also, that I do something he was taught: The rule of threes; three is kind of a magic number, and, when painting objects, it is imperative to use at least three values to give proper form. At least three- and lemme tell you, four is even better. Objects look REAL if they've got four values describing their volume.

Just the orchid's pot and the Starbuck's cup to do- should be able to finish it up tomorrow if I can paint. Thanks for the encouragement- I surely like still life better'n landscape!



http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/15-Oct-2004/9169-orchids_and_coffee03.jpg

[christmascarolnz]

wow, so that's your secret for creating great art- coffee. hmmm I drink tea - do you think I should switch?
Carol :D

[SweetBabyJ]

I only get one cup a day- and that usually goes cold before I can finish it. Can't have caffeine, see, and even decaf has some caffeine. But I really, really like coffee, so what I do drink, I make sure is GOOD coffee!

[*Deirdre*]

Just reading your posts is helping me to learn...so thanks!

[SweetBabyJ]

S'okay- helps me a lot to try and explain things- with the added plus I sometimes manage to figure things out ahead of time!

[bogbeast]

Julie, another phenomenal piece! It is always amazing to me to watch your wips--two or three absolutely lifelike things, with these flat blue cutouts standing next to them! :D except the cutouts have not shadows.....

Looking forward to seeing more of this one when tyou get back to it, but it is well to call it quits for the day while you can still move a little bit!

By the way, love your Terry Pratchet quote--I gather you are a fan? My son turned me on to them--always good for a bad pun or a good laugh!

Libster

[prestonsega]

For me., coffee is a lot like .....uh...well, anyway...the worst I ever had was wonderful!!! (I do like coffee) :D

Looking really good......I love to watch your plants bloom out of the support! The reflection on the table surface is working very well.

[meowmeow]

Coming along beautifully...really like the composition and the idea behind it. You can call it The Shadow Waitress! :D
I'll keep an eye on it and watch you finish it....while I drink my Starbucks coffee! :D
Sort of an acquired taste I think. Hubby used to hate it but now he loves it. I really like their sugar free vanilla latte....much better than Dunk's!
But...everyone is different...it's what makes the world so interesting!


Sandy

[E-J]

I won't tell you what I call Starbucks :) Three of them opened in Cambridge in the short time after I first moved there. Happily, Ely doesn't have one and hopefully we can keep it that way ... just the smell of their hot coffee makes me feel ill!

This is going to be another stunner, Julie - looking forward to seeing all the yummy textures you come up with for this one. The orchid shadow makes me think of steam rising from the coffee cup. I'm with Dawn - can't imagine painting on quite that vast a scale, though you know I've been making an effort to go large lately. I don't have an easel that would cope with anything this size!

[Grasshopper]

Julie, this is looking great. I saw the waitress right away! Excellent! I love watching your wips. I just wish you'd post them in earlier and earlier stages...

[Dyin]

Another great still life....I would love to see this full size! Watching for the finish whilst I drink my Folgers instant with liquid coffeemate (which is better than Starbucks if you ask me)

[Paula Ford]

Gee, I thought the cup and barrel were real and...hmmm??? LOL

Really looking forward to seeing the finished painting. I bet it's gonna be a knockout!!!

Yup, Foldgers Gourmet Supreme with Cremora Royale and a bit of sugar made by my hubby yummmmmmmmmm!!
Paula

[SweetBabyJ]

Wow- y'all are gonna make me blush. Thank you.

I'm deliberately keeping the plant and other cup rather subdued (well, for me, anyway) so the action is all in that shadow and upper cup- it's kinda fun seeing it pull together. Dunno how much I'll get done- if any- today, but it won't take long to finish, I think.

Harder for me to work small, I think- somehow, small makes me want to put in ALL the detail, and large I can step away from and say "Good enough". *shrug* I'm weird- I know.

I'll try to remember to get pics from the beginning, next time- but honestly, it is the same technique I use in the glass stuff: Tone in areas, scrub that in, then draw with vine charcoal and find the colours, then colour it in. Okay, I fib a bit- I layer lots and lots of colours in some areas- especially complex shadows: A base colour, a shadow colour, a warm/cool tone colour, and finally any changes in value to indicate volume. Sometimes I do the volume part first, then lay in a shadow, like you would in watercolour, but that doesn't catch as much texture.

As to coffee- I really like my one cup a day, but otherwise, I drink RubyRed and Tangerine juice, pretty much. Either that or Cranberry Lemonade. I like tart stuff.

[bogbeast]

aaacccccccckkkkk!!! Instant Folgers!!!!! :( :( :( :(

Next you'll be telling me that your favorite is Nestles' Flavored International Coffee Powders, which contain nothing but man-made ingredients!!! ARGHH!

Sorry, I'm a purist. :angel: I only have one or two cups a day, or the digestion goes bonkers, but a good rich fresh-ground brew makes my day. Starbucks tastes burned but the frozen mochas are good, Caribou ain't great. Peeks is way too dark, I like Turkish but not expresso...Coffee & Tea Limited in Mpls had some great stuff, and Dunn Bros. is good ( but I'm partial to them, my son used to work there :D )

With my apologies to those who find it blasphemous, I like the mug that says "Decaf is the Anti-Christ", but I'd have to add instant to that category! :evil:

and now, back to our regularly scheduled discussion of Julie's amazing painting.... :wave:

[E-J]

Vine charcoal ... where does one find vine charcoal?? I was looking for some extra thin soft vine charcoal to try my hand at the feathering technique in Deborah's recent demo, and nowhere in my area sells it! You can have just about any kind of willow charcoal your heart desires ... or compressed charcoal ... or charcoal pencils ... but vine charcoal? :confused: (I've now typed the word 'charcoal' so many times that it's started to look nonsensical!)

[SweetBabyJ]

I get mine here, EJ: http://webdb.com/retail/opasinc/shopping/productlist.asp?P-82012

They ship, too.


Coffee: Millstone's French Roast/Bed and Breakfast decaf, mixed, freshly ground at home, for each pot. Filtered water ONLY. First cup ONLY. If the coffee has sat more than ten minutes, I don't want it, thanks.

For lattes, take 1/4c half and half, add a nice drip of good vanilla, and microwave it till hot, Then whisk it by hand, and pour it in a half-filled cup. *Yum*

(What am I doing here when I should be finishing this painting??)

[SweetBabyJ]

Finally got to this today- didn't take long it seemed. I deliberately tried to mute colours this time- I know, near-sacrilege for me- but I really wanted the shadow and upper cup to be the focus. Think it works, if only because that upper cup has so much contrast going on in and around it. I even used (*gasp!*) greys in places!! shhhhh! Don't tell- I made Preston put his all in a Mason jar buried in the backyard....

Have some nice fall leaves I'm thinking of doing next- and a (*ahem* Kitty) vase/flowers thing to do yet- I'll try to remember to get pics start to finish, but I'm telling y'all- it's draw it, then colour it pretty much.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/16-Oct-2004/9169-Coffee_and_Orchids.jpg

and a detail kinda

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/16-Oct-2004/9169-Coffee_and_Orchids_det.jpg

Thanks for the encouragement y'all !

[Dyin]

Again, wish I could see it true size. Very nice job, despite the 'gasp' use of grey..teehee

[bogbeast]

Gorgeous, as always! :clap: :clap: :clap:

[prestonsega]

When I opened this post I gasped!!! A powerful painting...I get the sense of mystery.....almost unnervingly so (that's a good thing). I won't even use the C word on this one. I think the abundant negative space is adding to the feeling this work envokes. I don't think I would say this is a pretty picture.

[SweetBabyJ]

Thanks, Libby! I likes it, too.

Preston, that may be the nicest thing you've ever said about a painting of mine- Thank you, Sir!!

[meowmeow]

Me likes it too! Very mysterious...yes...the shadow waitress...yes.

I have one little question...what is the little thing on the box next to the cup on the top...looks a little like a skeleton finger (sort of fits with the shadow waitress. :D)...I don't see you mention it above but maybe I missed something (wouldn't be unusual!).

Very nice, Julie.

Sandy

[SweetBabyJ]

I think you must mean the little brass handle on the lid, Sandy? There's a brass catch on the side, too, but I left that out- it was superfluous. Left out the Starbucks logo on the big cup, too- wouldn't want anyone to think I was shilling for 'em... lol

Thanks- it's a pretty good piece, I think.

[Grasshopper]

I'll try to remember to get pics from the beginning, next time- but honestly, it is the same technique I use in the glass stuff

So...

I don't care; I just love seeing the entire process. It's way-cool for me. :cool:

[meowmeow]

Doh! Yes, it is the handle and now that I know what it is that is exactly what it looks like!

[Pinecone Conniff]

I have three words for this painting...FAN-TAS-TIC!! :clap:
Annette

[Tom Christopher]

Absolutely stunning, SBJ. I don't know how you get such detail... and the lighting is perfect..from one who is pretty much still life challenged, this is inspiring. thank you Tom

[emmachester]

Julie,

Beautifully executed. Nobody does still life shadows better.

Sherry

[Kathryn Day]

Beautiful! Julie, thanks for sharing your process.