Hello Readers! Laura “Webmaster” Sloofman here. I’m popping in to honor our Artist in Residence, Beverly Shipko. Today, my friend Sarah and I had our first Still-Life Painting Night*. In need of a subject, we “drew” inspiration from Bev’s latest blog post and selected the composition Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
Like our mentor, we painted our pictures using a 2-D image for inspiration. However, we worked from the television instead of a picture. Saturday Night [Painting] Live, if you will.
“Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled wood panel, on TV.
Sarah used acrylics, so at this point she just started painting. I chose gouache. Or rather, gouache chose me because it was the only paint I had on-hand thanks to a birthday present from Grandma Dot. Gouache is fun to work with because it feels like a hybrid between watercolor and acrylic. It’s relatively easy to create precise lines and flow-y colors.
After finishing my sketch, I couldn’t wait to start painting. Thankfully, I heeded Ms. Shipko’s advice and filled in the Reese’s logo first. She was right on all counts. I had to fight the temptation to outline first, but it was easier this way in the end. Had I started with the outline, the dark gouache would have bled into the center.
Before we knew it, after a night of painting and cooking along with Chef Erik, we had our finished work!
Sarah (L) and Laura (R)
The paintings up close
All three Reese’s Artists
Chef Erik. (Sarah and I helped, though!)
Thanks Mom for encouraging us to take a bite out of life!
- * Chef Erik participated in our night of creativity by woodworking and then doing some painting of his own
