Oooh Garlic

My Mom hated garlic, so I didn't even know what it tasted like until my teens. It was like a flavour revolution when I finally did. Now I add it to just about every dish I cook.

5x7 Acrylic on Canvas Board

I primed the canvas with a grey made from Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White. The background is Burnt Umber, and everything else (but the little bits of green on the garlic cloves) is done in different combinations of the priming colours. I added a fair amount of Gloss Medium to the paint this time, just to see what happens and because it was there. The paint blended a little better, it didn't dry on the palette as fast and the paint went further. It did make the picture somewhat shiny, as you can see in the upper left. I think I will get some less shiny medium and see what happens.

Valuable Lessons Learned Today:

• Using medium extends the paint and keeps it from drying so fast. That and a little bit of water.
• Don't overwork. The garlic heads have about 4 layers of colours. I finally told myself to stop it right this instant.
• Don't ever run out of garlic. I did yesterday.

PS I stumbled on a site with the most wonderful daily paintings called Postcards from Provence by British artist Julian Merrow-Smith from his home in France. His still life paintings with lemons are divine.