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Art theory Oil Painting Plants Still Life

Persimmon and Green Beans Still Life and Steps


This was one of the those magical paintings that just worked from beginning to end. Maybe it was painting on Gessobord, which I love, or maybe it was because I tried to stay really focused. I was careful to paint the string beans from the garden and their leaves first since I knew they would change quickly. I stopped when I found myself getting tired or losing focus and took a break. And I closely followed my pre-planned goals for each session.

Persimmon and String Beans, oil on panel, 6x6 inches
Persimmon and String Beans, oil on panel, 6×6 inches

This was one of the those magical paintings that just worked from beginning to end. Maybe it was painting on Gessobord, which I love, or maybe it was because I tried to stay really focused. It’s available here on Daily Paintworks.

I was careful to paint the string beans from the garden and their leaves first since I knew they would change quickly. I stopped when I found myself getting tired or losing focus and took a break. And I closely followed my pre-planned goals for each session.

See my session chart for Persimmon and String Beans (pdf) with all the steps, plans and session images or see the images of the steps below without details. One new step I added this time was studying the nearly finished painting in Photoshop on a large screen before declaring it finished and then finding and noting areas that needed adjustments, including completely changing the background value at top.

Let me know if you’re finding these charts or step by steps interesting. I do them for myself but if others find it interesting it’s worth posting them.

18 replies on “Persimmon and Green Beans Still Life and Steps”

Hi Jana:
I did find your explanation/worksheets very helpful. It’s useful to set goal for each painting sessions. Thank you for sharing this information.

Sheila J

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Thanks Sheila, good to know. I agree, setting a goal for a session really makes a difference for me, even if like yesterday the goal was only to experiment and play (while trying out the new Arches oil painting paper…and FYI, it’s awful). Jana

On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 1:15 PM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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I like your painting and especially you descriptions. Especially the corrections for concentration and the light dark balances.

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Thanks Nancy! I appreciate your kind words and for the taking the time to respond. Glad my notes are helpful. Jana

On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 1:25 PM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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Thanks so much. I always love getting your comments—always reminds me to be grateful and HAPPY! And I love what you said about being good at what I love doing. Makes me especially happy! Jana

On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 2:23 PM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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Jana, I admire how disciplined you are. Adhering to a schedule is impressive. I have a lot to learn and I appreciate that you share your approach. The tablecloth is amazing and I love how you captured the lighting on the persimmon.

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Thanks Marian, I wish I could agree that I was so disciplined. It’s not that I stick to a schedule but I am keeping track of my time. I’d like to do a better job of scheduling my painting so I come at it fresh each morning but with a young dog I choose to start the day with a hike with the pooch instead. Then she is nice and calm in the studio all afternoon, happy to nap while I paint. Life is good!

​ Jana

On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 4:03 PM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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Loved the charts and your notes! Using Photoshop to try some thing, such a great idea. thanks, Linda

Sent by my iPad

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​Thanks Linda. I think it’s one of the bonuses of preparing the photo to upload to my blog–I see the digital image on my large screen and if I don’t ​like it I can change the painting and try to make it something I like better. I just did it again with the painting I’m going to post today or tomorrow. Jana

On Sun, Nov 2, 2014 at 6:29 PM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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I really appreciate your generosity in sharing the process and decisions you make Jana. It really helps me think about planning one should do e.g., goal setting, adjusting for value, etc instead of just jumping in and seeing what happens.

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Thanks Sonia! Jumping in and seeing what happens also has value, but I find when I go that route I end up in a somewhat endless loop of messing about and painting and repainting. Setting a goal helps (but doesn’t totally prevent) me from doing that. Jana

On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 9:07 AM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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Green and orange are my favorite colors! You did a beautiful job on this painting! And I always love your comments about the process.

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That’s so interesting that your favorite colors are green and orange–makes me think of the awful green and orange checked houndstooth suit made of scratchy synthetic fabric I wore on my first trip to New York, back in the day when you wore a suit to fly and they served you steak. They’re not at all my favorite colors. I think my favorite color is periwinkle. I wonder what that means? J

Website: JanaBouc.com Blog: JanasJournal.com UrbanSketchers-BayArea,blogspot.com

On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 3:50 PM, Jana Bouc, Artist wrote:

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