In my first painting class in Berkeley, one of the assignments was to copy a famous painting, but to make it bi-chromatic (meaning, only use two colors, and various shades of black/white). I have a major art crush on Edward Hopper.
Here is the original: Chop Suey, 32″ x 38″, oil on canvas.
Chop Suey, Original by Edward Hopper
Here is my bi-chromatic copy: Acrylic on canvas (I was still afraid of oil paints at the time), I think 20″ x 24″ (? not certain ?):
Copy of Chop Suey in Orange and Blue.
I wish I had taken the photograph of the copy with better lighting and a better camera (I am always lamenting this, and for that I apologize. One day, I am going to take awesome photos and then you’ll see… you’ll see what things actually look like in person instead of some blurry facsimile of what I see in person. I would go back and retake this photo now, but I took it a few years ago, and now the painting is at my parents house…etc…). Anyway, this was one of my first paintings with acrylic. I know it’s not perfect, but I am really proud of the way that I captured the light on the jacket hanging above the woman’s head. Nonetheless, looking at the comparison right now makes me feel like a novice (which I was when I painted this), which is why people are blogging about Hopper and I am the only person blogging about me, I guess.
There are still a bunch of areas that I painted too literally. This is one of my biggest painting mistakes – I always want to go in with this tiny little brush and I get too uptight. I lose sight of the forest for all the trees. Sometimes, when I am feeling super disciplined, I won’t let myself use the small brushes – only the big ones – so that way I can focus on the feeling instead of on the minute details that end up taking away from the feeling.
Has anyone ever actually eaten chop suey? I feel like it’s one of those things we always talk about, but never actually try? Huh.
Bi-chromatically yours,
Rachel
