“Blake’s Bite – Oreo Cookie” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled panel, 6 x 6 inches
I decided to paint Blake’s Bite – Oreo Cookie. because of the distinctive teeth marks. Take a second look at the painting and you’ll see what I mean.
Despite my best efforts to remain unbiased, maybe I couldn’t help but be influenced by fact that Blake the Biter is a good kid who has been a regular visitor at my annual April Open Studio. He has been an enthusiastic participant in my Oreo Cookie Contest the last few years.
For the first time, Blake’s entry is one of the finalists. Congratulations, Blake!
In addition to his biting prowess, I was impressed by how he matured since I last saw him only 12 months ago. Blake was so full of new ideas about what to paint and how to market my paintings to reach a wider audience. His enthusiasm was contagious!
Blake was particularly proud of this year’s entry when he showed it to me. You would be surprised at how infrequently teeth marks actually show up on the cookie, but they did here and gave the cookie character. That’s what makes his painting a portrait, albeit untraditional, representing a moment in time in Blake’s life as a kid. As he grows up, his bite will change and so will future paintings (think the opposite of Dorian Grey please).
In fact, some of my best paintings depict cookies bitten by kids, who have smaller jaws and more rounded shaped bites. My first Oreo painting in 1998 was of my daughter Bonnie’s bite when she was just a little younger than Blake.
I try and paint during daylight hours to get a better look at the variety of subtle brown colors that I use. As I found out in January, here’s really no substitute for natural light when you’re painting, even using my natural spectrum lamp at night, especially when you’re near the end and adding in the subtle details.
As you can see in the above photo, I went back to my round bristle brush to give more texture to the paint surface of the background. My newest filbert brushes (shaped like those on the right below) are better for straight lines and details, but result in a smoother surface – which is highly desirable when you’re painting candy wrappers, but maybe not as much here.
Round, Flat and Filbert Brushes courtesy of http://www.oxlades.com.au
I used more paint than on Days 1 and 2 on the Oreo filling and the crumbs. As I always tell people, it’s all about the crumbs.
While I was working on Blake’s Oreo, I realized that I’m warmed up and feeling comfortable again with painting on wood so it’s time to be more adventuresome. And since I completed this set of three Oreo paintings, I’m ready to move on.
Days 1, 2 & 3 of the 30/30 Challenge, Paintings by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled wood panel, 6 x 6 inches
Stay tuned for Day 4.
