I've been taking a painting class and did this still life.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

It was a direct painting seminar, we had to finish the painting over four sessions. An interesting challenge.

[Raster]

1. Lovely...

...thanks for sharing.

[fierywoman]

2. Damned fine! Brava!

[samir.g]

3. That's beautiful!

[Croney]

4. Get -- OUTTA here!!

That is beyond good. Please do more and let us buy some.

[efhmc]

118. Exactly.

[Ohiogal]

5. Wow, that's beautiful!

Very well done!

[femmedem]

6. That's beautiful!

Congratulations! I've been painting too, after having not painted for several decades. Your work is inspiring.

[OhNo-Really]

7. Fantastic painting. You nailed it! Looks real. Love the composition

A+++

Oil?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Thanks! It's oil.

[soldierant]

109. My fingers can feel the inside of the dangling peel,

and I can't even see it, except for a little edge at the top.

[Perseus]

119. This is not your first, is it?

If so then Rembrandt must be possessing your body while you paint. There is very advanced technique used, so I have to think you have been painting for some time.

The reason I bring Rembrandt up is because of the dark colors, the dark backgrounds. I am an artist myself and I read a lot of art every day, it is my passion, so I can see the results are not that of a beginner. I do mostly portraits, and once in a while, when I can't sleep I will get my acrylics out and do some contemporary stuff, quite the opposite from the realism of my portraits.

Keep it up, you definitely have the technique and the talent. Oh, and the patience to do still life.

If you don't mind telling, where was the class taught?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

136. It wasn't my first, but it was my first attempt at direct painting.

This was the product of a short seminar in which we were taught how to prepare the canvas, do the preliminary drawing, given some paint to mix our own colors and then complete the painting, all in four days, without the paint ever drying. Everything I'd done before was in a once-a-week class where the paint would dry so I'd paint in layers and use glazes (traditional techniques, including verdaccio). I've been afraid to do portaits because it's so hard to get the eyes to point in the same direction.

The classes are at a small art school called The Art Academy in St. Paul, MN. If there's anybody in the area who wants to learn to draw and paint in a structured, traditional way that emphasizes learning basic techniques first, I can't recommend them highly enough.

[msongs]

8. its the dutch masters thing. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Our instructor is totally into the Dutch masters.

He handed out the paint and had us mix the colors we wanted. It was a great exercise.

[MLAA]

93. I spent last year working in Manhattan

I came out of retirement so I could live there and enjoy all the art. My favorite section was the Dutch masters. What they did with the tables of glass ware and silver servicing dishes (with the obligatory fruit) kept me spellbound. I started lessons a few years ago when I first retired and got hooked on painting my friends cats and dogs 😬

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

95. I'm working on painting one of my cats right now.

Maybe I'll do all three of them. Fur is challenging.

[MLAA]

98. I love painting their eyes

[WePurrsevere]

65. My cousin is a 'Master' who teaches...

how to paint in the style of the old masters. The paintings her students create using this technique, often from a photograph, are just amazing in how realistic they are.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

135. My instructor teaches those techniques also.

The orange wasn't done that way - that was direct painting done over only a few days - but he teaches an entire course on Renaissance painting techniques. It takes a long time to do one because they have many layers, but you can get really good results if you do it the old-fashioned way. Those old guys knew what they were doing.

[WePurrsevere]

140. It's a fascinating process for sure. Hopefully...

I'll be able to take her up on her offer for me to visit and her to teach me next year.

[sheshe2]

9. Excellent work, so lifelike.

Was it with oil or acrylic?

Thank you for sharing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. Oil. The instructor had us mix the colors.

[Harker]

10. Appealing! n/t

[LakeArenal]

29. Yes!

[Harker]

42. I wonder whether there's a deeper meaning.

Something orange... coming undone and being revealed...

[LakeArenal]

43. 🍊

[Perseus]

120. LOL

I have to confess that it took me a while to get it...excellent...

At 1st I thought "this person is thinking too much about the painting", then I got it and started laughing hard...

[Harker]

124. Overthinking is rarely an issue for me.

[livetohike]

11. Wow! Awesome! n/t

[flor-de-jasmim]

12. Wow! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[cornball 24]

13. Absolutely beautiful!!! You should be teaching class. Very impressive.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. I'm still learning, long way to go, but thank you.

[CaptainTruth]

14. That's beautiful! Great job!

[eppur_se_muova]

15. Where are the happy little trees ? :D nt

[lunatica]

20. I love it!

You met the challenge very well! It just draws you right in to the distinct elements from your use of colors to create a distinct contrast, to your depiction of hard surfaces with straight lines in combined with the soft glowing and fluid lines of the fruit. Your composition is noteworthy too. The fruit is just off center which to me gives the painting just a touch of visual tension to hold the viewer.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. I can't take credit for the composition, but thanks for the kind words!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

22. Wow! That is beautifully done!

[bucolic_frolic]

23. You're good!

Fake a Ver Meer and sell it for $10 million to a Trumper. Then you'll know you've made it.

[MLAA]

24. Holy shit Velveteen!

It is gorgeous. You have real talent! I mean true professional artist talent! Keep going!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. Thanks! I have a very good instructor.

I'm keeping at it. Some paintings are turning out better than others, of course.

[Pepsidog]

26. Great work.

[sandensea]

27. The classes paid off!

Great Chiaroscuro! You must've been a Dutch master in a past life, I dare say.

Thank you for sharing this - and Kudos!

[pandr32]

28. Wonderful!

Apparently you are talented. Good thing you discovered it!

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

30. Nice.

The only time I tried oils was in middle school and all I could think to do was outline and fill in my subjects. I did some drawings that weren't so bad, some reasonably not horrible watercolors, a sculpture I liked, and have done some not bad graphics work. But I never tried oils again!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. I like oils because you can fix mistakes.

You just let the paint dry and paint over whatever didn't work. You can't fix mistakes in a water color. Take another shot at oils. They are a little messy but very versatile.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

102. Ah, hadn't thought of that.

However, as bad as mine was, if would've taken a hell of a lot of painting over! Yours is in a professional looking style. Mine was like a coloring book, and not in the nice Japanese style way.

[LakeArenal]

31. Very nice. Post more, please.

[Evolve Dammit]

33. That is excellent. Carravagio-esque if I remember from art history... Long time ago (sigh)

Seriously, well done!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. I took a whack at Caravaggio, too.

He was a lot better at being Caravaggio, though.

[Evolve Dammit]

74. check out his still life images of fruit. The use of shadow, particularly. Again, nicely done!

[GreenPartyVoter]

123. Wow!!

[SeattleVet]

34. Beautiful, and also very subtle metaphor.

The orange with its thin veneer of protection unraveling can also be seen as a subliminal message related to current impeachment activities.

Well done!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

38. I guess that's one way to think of it, but it was just an art class assignment!

Thanks, though!

[SWBTATTReg]

35. Pretty dang good and pretty realistic. It actually looks very real and I thought at first you ...

were into photography, I thought it was an actual photo of a peeled orange. Wow...amazing!

[Leghorn21]

36. This is so good, I can't even believe my eyes!!

WOW

WELL DONE

MORE PLEASE!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. Thanks!

[braddy]

37. There is no question, you are a painter.

[LiberalLovinLug]

40. from another artist....well done!

[hwmnbn]

44. Yikes!!

That is gorgeous. Congrats on your talent!

[irisblue]

45. I can almost smell the citrus, well done

[Duppers]

57. Indeed! What she said ⬆⬆

[SleeplessinSoCal]

46. looks like a Rembrandt.

[OregonBlue]

47. I come from a family of good artists. You are extremely talented.

[2naSalit]

48. Nice!

Is that oil, water or acrylic?

[marble falls]

49. Obviously not your fist canvas or lesson.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. It's my retirement hobby.

[marble falls]

68. I teach and its more expert than anything I've done.

[Beakybird]

50. Amazing! But the poor orange just got minimum wedge!

[Martin Eden]

52. Very nice.

You peeled off a good one.

[3catwoman3]

53. I feel like I could reach in, finish...

...peeling it, and enjoy the succulent segments.

Outstanding -

[Liberalhammer]

54. I suddenly

Have a craving for a screwdriver.

[McKim]

55. Just Wow!

Just wow!!!!! This is right up there with the old masters! Good for you, we can’t focus on Trump and republicans all the time, it will make us sick.

[Duppers]

56. The details, coloring,...

And light/shadow contrasting is brilliant.

You are seriously talented!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

58. Thanks! I have to give credit to the instructor who was breathing down my neck, though.

Sometimes you need an extra pair of educated eyes to show you what you're missing.

[mnhtnbb]

59. That is wonderful!

I have been moving and just finished hanging a painting a friend did for me several years ago ( on commission). She took up painting in her retirement, too. You may have a second career opportunity available!

[BumRushDaShow]

60. Fantastic!

My mom used to do oil painting as a hobby when we were little. The last technique she was learning was painting with a pallet knife before she eventually put it all aside to raise us. But I grew up with a huge easel, a bunch of blank canvases, and tubes of "Grumbacher" around the house (and that was a name that still swirls in my brain even today).

[moonscape]

61. Excellent! Really truly excellent! n/t

[lisa58]

62. That's you????

F’ing Amazing!!!

You don’t just see - you feel

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

64. It's not actually me; it's an orange.

But thanks!

[lisa58]

70. No, it's you - we only create aspects of ourselves

Beautiful

[Collimator]

103. Heh heh.

It's beautiful. Yes, it's realistic almost like a photograph. But somehow it is more. . . . enchanting than a photograph.

Yes, that's it. It is a transcendent orange. And you have painter's magic.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

63. How do you coerce your models to disrobe?

Of course, this is only partial nudity........

Great job TVO and no better diversion and emotional relief in retirement during these tumultuous times.

I love the way you use shadowing, just like your Clarence Darrow......

[LyndaG]

66. Very nice

You are talented.

[lillypaddle]

67. You've got some talent

going on there!

[krispos42]

69. Very very nice!

[wendyb-NC]

71. Very nice, beautiful work.

[PatSeg]

72. That's remarkable!

[grantcart]

73. I couldn't take a photo that nice

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

76. I took another seminar on how to photograph still life arrangements for painting.

That, itself, is an art, and it's more complicated than I expected.

[applegrove]

75. Amazing. What an eye for light you have.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

141. I can't take credit for the lighting.

So that we'd be able to keep painting the subject with consistent lighting and from the same aspect, the instructor had us use a photograph as a model instead of "live" objects. Having also tried to paint "live" still lifes in another seminar I don't think one way of doing it is easier or harder than the other, but for the purposes of this class it made more sense to use a photo. So that's really to the photographer's credit, not mine.

[applegrove]

142. You did a good job. Pat yourself on the back.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

77. Nice!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[handmade34]

78. very nice!

I am envious of talent such as yours

[yonder]

79. Very impressive Van Velveteen!

The object takes it's rightful place (and my eye) but you really nailed the light and shadow.

[Alliepoo]

80. Wow !!!!

That is absolutely amazing! What a talent you have!!! I love it.

[pansypoo53219]

81. much better still life to do. i so hated still lifes. 1 semester. you get burnt umber & dk blue.

but then i discovered prussian blue. so much better than ultramarine.

[Crabby Appleton]

82. I'm impressed - beautiful!

[H2O Man]

83. Recommended.

Beautiful!

[hibbing]

84. Love the lighting variation n/t

[Docreed2003]

85. That's incredible!

[IcyPeas]

86. great work

so when you say you were given colors to mix your own....

so were you given.... red and yellow to make your own oranges for example?

also how big is it?

great painting!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

92. Six colors plus black and white. We did have to make our own orange.

The instructor said that if you're not sure what color something is, it's probably orange. I found I had to add more red than I expected to get a proper orange orange.

[homegirl]

87. Absollutely beautiful

looks like a detail from an old dutch Master---maybe Rembrandt.

[Blue_playwright]

88. Wow!

I’ve always wished I had some artistic talent. I can write but that’s it! That is gorgeous and I love the second portrait you posted, as well.

[mahina]

89. Lovely!

[appalachiablue]

90. Magnifique! How long you been painting? It's like Chardin, Fantin-Latour

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

96. *blush* Thank you!

[BigmanPigman]

91. Wow! That is fantastic.

I am a pretty tough art critic too. I got my BFA (Bach Fine Arts) degree and that is better than what I have seen from when I was in art school, and even after art school. Well done!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

94. Thanks! I did have an instructor watching over me, though.

[BigmanPigman]

97. That may have a certain amount of influence on the

painting but it is obvious to me that you have a lot of real talent, instructor standing behind you or not.

[diva77]

99. A masterpiece!

Thanks for adding some more beauty to the world!

[deek]

100. omg

astounding

[samnsara]

101. holy shit thats good!!!!

[flying rabbit]

104. ...

[Lulu KC]

105. DUTCH MASTERS FTW n/t

[LiberalLoner]

106. Wow this is amazing!

Anyone would be delighted to have this hanging on their walls!

[Joinfortmill]

107. Fabulous

Looks like a fine arts painting.

[still_one]

108. Beautiful!!!

[YOHABLO]

110. You obviously have ''the gift''. Awesome.

[JDC]

111. That is excellent. Great light and detail.

That painting kinda can't be taught. You have solid talent.

[Nitram]

112. Very nicely done!

[hay rick]

113. What happened to the bar code sticker?

[dflprincess]

114. Beautiful!

I love the color contrasts and the "lighting" on it.

[sprinkleeninow]

115. Hot damm! So fine! 👍

[calimary]

116. Photographic realism.

You’re really gifted, my friend.

Looks good enough to eat!

[Scarsdale]

117. So realistic.

Great work, very talented.

[highplainsdem]

121. Wow! That's stunning!

[GreenPartyVoter]

122. Gorgeous!

[PWPippinesq]

125. I, too, started painting in retirement - at the suggestion of my very supportive spouse.

What a lovely painting! You captured the texture and light so well. I, too, painted, in a series of classes, a still life of clementines. I live in Maine and, of course, have enjoyed painting land and seascapes. However, since I like painting from life rather than photographs, still lifes in our long dark winters became my focus with citrus and pears being my favored subjects. Enjoy the exploration.

[Desert_Leslie]

126. Very beautiful !

That is simply beautiful. Keep painting!

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

127. I can smell the orange...

Beautiful.!

[bluescribbler]

128. Very nice.

You have talent.

[CrispyQ]

129. Most excellent!

While not my favorite color, I love orange. It adds fabulous pop to everything! I've been dabbling in watercolor & haven't painted anything half that nice. Keep it up!

[karin_sj]

130. Beautiful work!

[KPN]

131. Wow! Impressive. Please tell me you've been painting for a quite some time already so I

don't feel inadequate.

Does it have a title yet? A suggestion "tRump Early Winter 2019".

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

132. The important thing is good instruction to get a good foundation.

I did a fair amount of drawing and painting when I was very young, didn't do much for years, went back to it as a retiree but in a guided course. I learned that you can't just sit down and paint, but that you have to learn about basic drawing, how to prepare a canvas, color theory, brush technique, etc., so I've been taking a basic drawing and painting class for the last few years, just learning those things. I still feel inadequate compared to a lot of other students in the class. We start learning about oil painting by copying one of the old masters and starting from scratch with an underpainting and adding layers, light over dark. The main point the instructor makes is that anyone can draw and paint well but you need to learn a lot of basic stuff first. I'd highly recommend a structured class.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

133. Oooo! Gorgeous!

[bif]

134. Very nice! You've got a lot of talent

And you're only going to get better!

[zentrum]

137. It's wonderful. Evocative.

[Demovictory9]

138. very nice

[colorado_ufo]

139. Wow!!!

Orange you glad your subject didn't move!

[ashling]

143. Wonderful!

what medium is this?