Yes, it was a challenge today. The cat decided he liked laying on top of my setup. And then there was the dazzling, bright sunlight. But I learned an important lesson: when trying to do an “actual size” painting, first measure the actual size of your setup. I’d grabbed a 24×48″ canvas and tried – in vain – to draw in actual sizes. Try as I might, I just couldn’t get things to fit! The dragon fruits were way too large. What was I doing wrong???
Then a light bulb went off in my brain: get out the yardstick and measure the size of the actual setup! Well — duh — it was only 36″ wide. Fortunately I had a 24×36″ canvas in the back room. Once I got going on that, it became infinitely easier!
I got the basic outlines of the fabric design, the glass bowl and approximations of where the dragon fruits were. I don’t know how long dragon fruit stays in decent condition at room temperature, so once I felt I had the basic layout established, I painted in one dragon fruit. That was enough for one day!
Margie Guyot Art 