“Christmas cactus in a pot.”
Usually I am full with ideas, but this week I struggled a bit. I was initially thinking to do some plein air, but the weather was against me. Cold alone wouldn’t have been a problem, fine drizzle / autumn rain was. In the end, I decided to do another still life. Earlier in the week, I experimented with greens, doing a still life with composition in green, so I thought I would play more with it.
So, the Christmas cactus came in handy. It is still long before end of December, hence no flowers, or even flower buds, still a good looking plant.
I experimented more with this one, working in thick impasto, alla prima.
For the greens I used three blues and two yellows. Additionally I used burnt umber, burnt sienna, transparent oxide brown, bright red and titanium white. The canvas used, was covered with a layer of bright orange beforehand and left to dry about a week or so.
It is my first still life done in this style and I am quite pleased with the result.
“Christmas cactus in a pot.”
Oil on linen.
24 X 30cm (10” X 12”).
