Simply Red

The American artist David Leffel makes the point that all paintings have an underlying theme, other than the ostensible subject matter. So this pastel is about "redness", and I quote William Carlos Williams in my support:

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

The colander and lantern were selected for their blatant redness, while the Château Pougeau is a Grand Cry Classé Margaux - i.e. a fine red wine.


First picture is the initial scribble in CarbOthello pencils and Rembrandt pastels.

I selected about 28 different red pastels in various tints and shades, mainly Sennelier, but some Roché and Schminke too. The colander is beginning to take form.

The holes in the colander were tedious to get right in terms of perspective. Here I am moving on to shading the left shadow side of the wine bottle, and beginning the lantern.

Nearing completion:

Final refinements on detail of objects. Deciding where to stop with the apples; adding the reflections; and using Sennelier 177 Dark Green on the background, which is black Canson Mi-Teintes, a paper I rarely use. 
A word about the composition: the overall shape of the arrangement is a triangle, echoed in the triangular layout of the apples in the colander. As well as that, there are numerous circles and arcs in the piece - the colander and the drainage holes therein; the apples of course; and various circular elements and arcs in the oil lamp. All of these elements help to tie the composition together.

Simply Red © Niall O'Neill