Inspiration...

Canned Beauty   watercolor/gouache   10 x 6.5

can come from anywhere, even the oft overlooked, especially the oft overlooked.  A recent glossy home decor magazine featured an article where an editor picked her 10 favorite things.  The one that caught my eye was a vase, I believe of mercury glass, that resembled an aluminum can.  And, of course, it was for that reason that it was deemed beautiful.  My brain wondered:  "And why not the aluminum can itself"?  Aluminum cans teach a variety of lessons:  the ever-difficult ellipse as well as reflective qualities that are not contiguous, but ridged.  Oh boy....what an assignment.  We had also been discussing the use of black.  Instead of using black from a tube, which is a dead dark that creates visual holes in paintings, we discussed the formula of red + green + blue = black.  Using the particular red, green and blue hues already determined for a particular work will produce a dark that harmonizes with the rest of the painting.  And......one of my favorites.....using one or two of those in dominance will produce a black with a particular cast...i.e. reddish-black, bluish-black, etc.  (this aspect is easily seen in black garments)

"Canned Beauty" was done that class period.  I slanted my dark hues to produce a purplish-black to, hopefully, play off of the vibrant yellow flowers.  Despite its darkness, I like it very much.