I finished work on the pear tonight, just in time so I could remove it from the still life before it began to mold. Then while working on the cloth I began thinking about Gerard ter Borch the master of satin and wishing that I could paint satin as well as he.
I saw this painting just a while ago at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam Netherlands. It was even more amazing in person. But, one thing you can’t really tell here, is that the painting is small, very small. Which means that Gerard ter Borch was able to put this amazing detail in at a tiny size.
See it on the Rijksmuseum website here.
Yeah, my painting looks kinda bland next to his… Geez! look at the wood grain he painted! I just noticed…
Anyway, I have a lot of work ahead of me before I’m that good. But for today, I’m very happy with the progress in this painting. The satin may not be near as good as Gerard ter Borch but this is the first time I think I have ever painted the type of cloth, so with that in mind I feel much better.
The next photo that I take of the subject for this painting will not have the pear in it. I removed it before it molds. But not until after I finished the area around the pear. You would be amazed at all the reflected light and subtle changes that happen to items around objects even when they are dull.
