Montessori Pink Tower and Turnips (plus great new studio lights)

This painting was inspired by my neighbor’s childhood Montessori Pink Tower blocks arranged like a little cityscape on his coffee table. I found the blocks irresistible and had to paint them. The turnips I’d bought to cook for dinner seemed like a perfect addition (I know, I’m weird, right?) The painting is available on my Daily Paintworks gallery here.

If you’d like to see my full notes with goals and outcomes for each painting session, you can open this small PDF file.  Life intervened between sessions which made painting from life difficult as you can see in the photos below taken at the beginning and end of the painting process: the turnips had started to sprout and wrinkle.

Studio Lights

I finally found what I think are perfect lights for painting still life. I used this LED 4000K spotlight to light my still life set up and this LED 4000K floodlight clamped to a rafter above my easel to light my canvas. The 4000K lights are a nice middle point between warm and cool colored light bulbs and don’t produce heat that can affect flowers or produce. They also come in warmer colored versions 2800K and 3000K (like incandescent bulbs) as well as cooler  5000K (daylight) versions.