Artistic License, how I love thee

I created this still life/color study this morning. It may seem sort of boring and over done, but the truth is I love apples. I love to eat them. Aside from their nutritional value... they have great color value (gala). It's always good to brush up on observational skills and I feel I'm succumbing to the pressure of proving I can paint... whatever that means. Regardless of my motivation, overall I think this type of painting is beneficial in the long run, even though I don't think is uber creative... it is technical and it's good to get technical every now and then.

When I finish a painting (or sometimes during the process) I feel the overwhelming need to photograph what I've done. It allows me to separate myself from the work and look at it from another perspective. This is one of the pictures I took when the painting was completed.

Because this piece is a 'study' I painted it on a canvas sheet (similar to a piece of paper from a drawing pad). After viewing this photo I've decided I'm going to cut the painting and display it this way. This composition seems much stronger. I like the contrast of the white background and the apples/bowl. Gee it's great to be your own boss! You get to make all the decisions...