Noah Layne

Monday, December 12, 2011

Hanging Onions Painting

Here are some photos of what's on my easel at the moment. I was inspired, in part, to do this painting by an email I received a little while ago from someone in Mexico who teaches at an agriculture university. She had put together a not-for-profit book about the "Pitahayas" or Dragon Fruit. I was surprised to find she had used my painting "Flying Dragon Fruit" both in the book and as the back cover without asking me.... It was nice that she emailed me to find out where she could send me a copy of the book but still somewhat funny that she wouldn't check before using my painting in her book.

I painted "Flying Dragon Fruit" in 2003. It was in a gallery in Vancouver for a while. The gallery was one of the best in Vancouver and had been in business for 20+ years. Unfortunately things started to go bad for the owner and he ran off with a number of artists’ work or did not pay them for work sold. Twenty plus artists sued him but as far as I know, not one managed to collect any money from him. I lost my dragon fruit painting and another small still life. So now my dragon fruit painting has been stolen both in real life as well as in digital form for a book.

You're probably wondering how this relates to my hanging onion painting? After seeing my dragon fruit painting in the book it made me want to do another painting with a similar setup and so I painted this onion painting!

Here is an image of the dragon fruit painting. If you know where this painting is, please let me know! 

Flying Dragon Fruit Oil on Linen 11x14. Stolen 2005

Here are some progress pic of my Hanging Onions painting.






I always find it interesting to look at a painting I'm working on in a frame if I have one of the right size around!



Finished painting  "Hanging Onions" Oil on Linen 11"x16"

Monday, December 5, 2011

New drawing

Here is a recent study. I did this study in a 2 hour live sitting, then  I worked on the drawing for a few hours afterward, refining some of the shading and other things.  

When I'm thinking about trying to use someone in a painting, I often do a few drawings of them to start to get an idea of how they look.  When I'm drawing someone it gives me a chance to really look and examine their face and get to know it in a different way then when I'm just talking and seeing them in normal life.  One of the things I love about drawing and all art is a quest for a simple truth.  The truth of the shape of someone's nose, how all a person's features relate to each other in a very beautiful way, a pattern all their own.   

After doing some study drawings of someone I may come up with a composition in which I can paint them or I may just let the knowledge of their face sit at the back of my mind and I may come up with a composition in a year or more.


Graphite on white paper 16x15