Introduction to the Red Apple Collection
Studying different artistic styles through history via the lens of a simple red apple. From realist to impressionist, modernist, cubist and contemporary. Which style do you prefer - you may be drawn to one style more than another?
Red Apple #1 (bottom left) SOLD
In this painting I was looking to emulate the 17th century Dutch Masters with the apple on a stone ledge set against a dark background. I used the time-consuming Flemish technique of a monochrome underpainting with multiple glazes to really make the apple glow and stand out.
Red Apple #2 (bottom centre)
I was looking to Cézanne’s Impressionist still life paintings as inspiration for this painting, specifically his Still Life with Apples (circa 1878). I used diagonal brushstrokes for the background and then created the apple and the shadow. The colours here are a bit earthier and I loved experimenting with his constructive brushwork technique.
Red Apple #3 (top centre)
Van Gogh, a Post-Impressionist, painted Apples in 1887 and I tried to capture the same vibrancy and energy in the dabs and strokes and the way he captured light and colour. This one was the most fun to paint and I love the blue/green background that shines through.
Red Apple #4 (top right) SOLD
This was a new departure for me. I was studying Matisse’s Apples on a Table – Green Background created in 1916. Matisse was associated with the Fauvist movement with non-realistic bold colours and simplified forms. I was looking to create a flat two-dimensional image with bright colours and patterns in an early Modernist style. The white tablecloth is textured rather than smooth and the overall effect is thought-provoking.
Red Apple #5 (bottom right)
Unmistakeably Picasso-inspired! I was using Violin and Grapes (1912) as a reference and this painting was the hardest of all to do. The Analytical Cubist style had muted tones and overlapping planes and I wanted to show the multiple perspectives of a cut apple (there is a knife at the bottom) with a view from the front, side, cut in half, a wedge and also spirals of cut peel, one of which happens to form my initial S. This took a great deal of planning but other parts suggested themselves as I went along to create a feeling of harmony, balance and solidity. Overall though, this is a much more ‘applied’ rather than instinctive technique. I love the result.
Red Apple #6 (top left)
I started this painting with dots of various reds, oranges and yellows as I was actually going to try Georges Seurat’s Post-Impressionist pointillisme technique but then I found myself using a palette knife to slide and merge the colours so I have classed this as Contemporary. There is also some impasto texture which adds a tactile element. I love the contrast of this complex apple on a simple, harmonious background.