"Tomato in Peril"

8" x 8" Oil on canvas panel.

Available at www.KimVanDerHoek.com

A few weeks ago I set up this still life for my students in my Monday night oil painting class. I usually hear a collective sigh from everyone that is filled with anxiety when they first see me fiddling with a still life.

Is painting from life more challenging that working from a photograph? Absolutely. However, there is no faster way to learn and grow as an artist than to try time and again to translate what you see in real life onto your canvas. You gain a much better understanding of how light behaves, how colors interact and how shape is formed with value.

That said, I think my students still believe that I'm trying to torture them with vegetables, fruit and dishes.

When I set up this still life I liked the overall composition then while painting it, I imagined that the tomato must be hiding in the cup because of the menacing knife outside on the plate waiting to carve it up. Silly, I know.