Icons of the Chip World

I’ll always remember the Blizzard of 2016 as the day I finished my first potato chip painting, America’s Favorite Chips: Vending Machine.

This is my second full-size vending machine painting. While it took longer than expected, some things are worth the wait – and the patience.

Here’s the original photo. I started by cutting off the top row of healthy snacks!

Then I cut the photo in half and flipped the top and bottom rows to put the visually lighter bags on top (no Photoshop for me… yet) before doing this detailed drawing. I spent a lot of time on the structure, establishing the round shapes since there’s little room for error once painting begins.

I worked from the top down to avoid smearing the oil paint, which takes days to dry (sometimes weeks if I use titanium white). I tend to brace my hand on the canvas when doing precise logo work.

It was unexpectedly satisfying to complete the first chip bag, even though there was was a steep learning curve. If I had been doing a painting a day, this would have been the first of 6 different small paintings. But you know that old tagline, Bet you can’t eat just one? Well, I couldn’t paint just one.

The Mini-Tootsie Roll with Bag experience from the September Challenge helped prepare me for painting chip bags. Kit Kat and America’s Favorite Candy Bars also paved the way for this ambitious undertaking, pushing me out of my comfort zone.

I underestimated the complexity of each bag. The Cheetos bag was by far the most difficult with the Chester Cheetah character and strong reflections against all those floating Cheetos. It was challenging to find those subtle shades of orange and red.

I left the Doritos bags for last since the logos seemed pretty straightforward. However, that was not the case with its subtle nuances (little flame-like shapes) that only a logo designer would pay attention to. Being a marketing person, I can only image the tens of thousands (if not hundreds or millions!) of dollars spent on logo development.

It was so important to lay in the dark background early in the process since the colors resonant differently again light colors. I wanted to avoid repainting anything on this complex composition. At the halfway mark, I seriously considered the possibility that I was finished and should stop (see Done?)

But I powered on and started laying in the dark background around the bottom bags, still struggling with the nuances of different blacks and greys (which I ultimately rejected).

At this point, I had firmly decided to stick with the initial 6-bag concept.

Yesterday’s blizzard actually helped keep me focused so I could finish the little details.

I am happy with this painting, and can’t wait to see it framed next month.

Now I have to figure out my next painting. Stay tuned.