Day 13. Cheese

Did you know that painting slabs of cheese are just like painting cakes? That’s what I discovered for the first time when I painted Cheese.

For years, people suggested painting cheese but I thought it would be boring. Then I saw this little gem of a painting by Wayne Thiebaud at his 2014 Aquavella Gallery retrospective, and I started rethinking that position. That’s the night I finally met my hero in person.

When I came across this elaborate, richly textured cheese display at Whole Foods at Columbus Circle in New York City, I had to take a photo on the way to the deli counter for dinner. What a store! Everything looks extraordinary.

The fact that the cheese counter caught my eye at all was surprising since we were in such a hurry to eat dinner in between MOMA and the New York Philharmonic. The concert featured pianist prodigy Daniil Trifonov – which I wouldn’t have remembered at all if it wasn’t for this photo of Daniil and I (and Jay in the back) in the Green Room. Excuse this little digression, but he’s a fantastic pianist! Maybe another Horowitz or Richter, in my humble opinion.

When I came across the cheese photo recently, I knew I had to try my first cheese painting. I did the sketch and started painting the shadows in oil to work out the structure.

Oops! I forgot the acrylic underpainting I had intended to put under the signs (black) and the textured rinds (brown).

Since acrylic dries in 15 minutes, it would be a whole lot easier to paint the lettering and textures over a dry surface. However, it wasn’t too late, as I had only started the shadows. As long as I didn’t let the acrylic touch the oil, I would be ok, and I went ahead.

While the acrylic was drying, I studied the details of the rinds with a magnifying glass, a Hanukah present from Jay. Believe it or not, it was my favorite present!

The magnifying glass has several benefits: timesaving, lightweight, and large enough so I can look at the photo and painting at the same time. In the past, I had to go upstairs, find the photo on my desktop, email it to my iPad, and balance the iPad while painting to keep the blown up image close to me. Awkward, to say the least. In this case, low tech was the way to go.

After the shadows, I focused on the rinds. That’s when I realized painting rinds were just like painting icing on cake. The round Gouda was shaped like a cake. The quarters of cheese reminded me of partially eaten wedges of cake. All those hours of painting cake shadows came in handy in this painting.

I unexpectedly felt at home working on Cheese, and had a good time the whole evening right up until I signed the painting (etched my name with a nail is more accurate). That’s the way painting should feel all the time. A far cry from my experience  on Day 10. Strawberry Blueberry Tart. I’m grateful to put that behind me.

I haven’t figured out what I’m painting today. Got to get to work! Bye for now.