#beverlyhillsgrill

Day 24 marked another first in the Challege: my first entrée ever, salmon.

The full title of this painting is Salmon in Red, White and Black, since the colors are such a big part of this piece. (I’ve got Whistler’s Mother on the brain,  which he formally titled Arrangement in Grey and Black.)

This past February, I was having lunch with my college friend, Lynn Hilkene, who still lives in Ann Arbor and goes to all the Michigan football games. (One day I’m going to go with her!) We met for a long lunch at the Beverly Hills Grill in Southfield, MI, where we sat for hours chatting a mile a minute.

I remember this particular lunch because we talked about the Challenge, when resulted in my Top 10 Lessons Learned post. After taking our obligatory photos, we ordered our favorite foods. In my case, it’s the salmon.

When my meal came, I was struck by the strong graphic quality of the composition on the table before me – the squares of the plate and napkins softened by the the circles of the glass and dressing cup and saucer, and the dramatic contrast of darks and lights. I considered the side views through the camera LED screen, but they didn’t look as compelling to me.

This was an ambitious choice because it was an entrée, which included a glass with ice cubes and a submerged spoon, either of which could have been a subject on its own. Here I was trying try to limit myself to simple paintings, and then I do the exact opposite.

The evolution of Salmon in Red, White and Black is rather interesting and I’ll show you why. I started with a detailed drawing, put in the background and shadows, and used a red background more evocative of the mahogany table appearing black in the photo. My intention was to darken the red with a deep brown. At this point, I actually thought about turning this into a gresaille painting (all greys to imitate sculpture, except for the crimson). I’m still wondering how it would have looked in greytones. What do you think?

Then I went back with the original plan and started adding in color beginning with the lemons and salmon.

I didn’t finish this in one day (probably shouldn’t have taken that hour off yesterday), and here’s what greeted me this morning. For a few hours, I worked on the glass, cup and spoon, and brought the color intensity of the salmon and vegetables up to the level of the lemons (which is more evident in person). My last step was to add the highlights to the green beans and deepen the shadows.

I have to stop to get ready for a RiverArts fund-raising party where my Oreo Mandala print is being auctioned off today. This is probably a good thing since the painting looks fresh and lively.

While I am still several days behind schedule, I am very happy with my first entrée of plated food, potentially opening a new door for a series. As with many of my paintings this Challenge, they look better in person, and this one does too. So stop by and see for yourself.

Later today, I’ll be working on another painting inspired by a Michigan trip. Until tomorrow.