“A brass mortar and pestle with a coconut.”
Another week of continental summer, with unbearable heat and drought. All the vegetation around us is slowly but surely dying; I have just noticed today that even the moss on the roof is turned brown.
Obviously, this kind of weather keeps me indoors, but I am not complaining. Still lots to practice and experiment with still life painting. I wanted to do something different, hence I have chosen a brass mortar and pestle, which is in my family for many years, possibly a century, or so. I paired it up with a coconut and changed the setup, with a black backdrop and a white cloth.
I wanted to experiment a bit, so I played with some medium; I used De Mayerne medium, for the dark background, hoping that the background will stay vivid. It did, but in the process, I have lost the character of the brushstroke and the background is very shiny. I hope it will dry a bit duller, but not sure about this. The lesson is to use the medium, sparingly and with caution.
I used a reduced palette, with three browns, transparent brown oxide, Italian Cassel and burnt umber, three yellows (cadmium yellow lemon, cad yellow light and yellow ochre), some white, some cobalt blue and a touch of alizarin crimson. The canvas used was covered with vermillion and left to dry.
So, here it is:
“A brass mortar and pestle and a coconut.:
Oil on linen.
30 X 40cm (12” X 16”).
