Wallpaper Duty

I'm sure that laying actual wallpaper with such an elaborate design would be much easier, but probably less gratifying than the end result from working magic with my paint brush (I'm sure I have no business messing around with adhesives and whatever else it takes to put up wallpaper anyways). Today started in a great position with the main design elements blocked in and dry from previous painting sessions - all I had to do was spend 6 1/2 hours painting in the details, and voila!

A little more about the painting:
This still life was inspired from real lemonade freshly squeezed from lemons grown here locally in AZ. Michael and I were walking along picking lemons and grapefruits from the fruit treats in the neighborhood and we spotted the best lemon tree around... many problems arose: water flooding the ground around the tree (which posed no problem for Michael and his braveness), branches that jump out at you from no where (leaving battle wounds on Michael... bless his heart for sacrificing himself for the good of my art and our lemonade drinking pleasure), and seems on the bag we used ripping apart carrying 20 lbs of lemons the size of two fists each back home to introduce them to our new friend... the juicer. After making a mess and enjoying the smell of citrus in the air, the peels just seemed as though they were begging to be painted. Digital camera and shadow box to the rescue! Piecing the idea together and settling into my new studio, I created the design, transfered it to canvas and began working. Three weekends of painting later, I have progressed far enough into the piece to share my work so far. Keep in mind that the only part that is "done" is the background... backward to foreword is how I'm working the painting (in other words, now that the background is done, everything that is "in front" of it will be painted in next). I love the still life so far and can't wait to finish it soon! :)

-Joshua Grabowski