PB & J Sandwich - by Darren Maurer

10" x 10"

This is the first painting for my new gallery, Bethel Street Gallery, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. I am going to complete five to six pieces of various sizes. The owner let me know he was a fan of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich paintings so I decided to make it my first subject. For those of you that also follow my friend, Neil Hollingsworth's painting blog, he has been discussing his use of painting small study paintings of partial subjects before tackling the entire subject in a single composition. For instance, he recently completed a close up painting of some glass coca-cola bottles inside the red cardboard carrier before finishing the larger painting showing the top portion of the entire eight-pack on a 16x20 canvas. This is a good way for artists to see how a particular subject matter might work before committing lots of time on a big painting. In a sense, it is practice. I don't paint a great deal of study paintings, but usually just dive in headfirst and find all the hidden potential problems as I am painting. This painting was completed in a sort of an opposite fashion from Neil's method. A few weeks ago I painted both halves of this PB & J on a 6x6 panel and now finished the same sandwich with a very cropped composition on a 10x10 panel. I should consider painting studies more often because this painting really went well and I was able to get in the "zone" and the painting came easy. Painting Sold.