by Joyce Washor

Pears 2005, oil, 16 x 20.

This is a very successful painting except for the background and the placement of the knife. I am not sure whether the artist is trying to achieve a sky quality in the background—this should be clarified. I would suggest placing the knife on the white cloth at an angle that faces the bowl of pears. This change would lead the viewer's eye from the knob of the drawer in toward the pears.

About the Critic
Joyce Washor graduated from Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and also studied at the Woodstock School of Art, in Woodstock, New York. The author of Big Art, Small Canvas (North Light Books, Cincinnati, Ohio), Washor teaches at the Scottsdale Artists' School, in Arizona, and the Woodstock School of Art. She is represented by Horizon Fine Art, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; The Crane Collection, in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts; and The Lawrence Gallery, in Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, visit www.joycewashor.com and http://JoyceWashorsDailyPaintings.blogspot.com.

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Comments

I can understand how your comments would make the lovely painting even lovelier and more interesting to the viewer! The painting is well done, but I agree with your comments. How wonderful for artists to receive a free critique that will enable them to improve! I would love to see the redone painting with the improvements and compare them.

I agree with your comments about the knife. I would also recommend either removing the knob completely or making it fuzzy/out of focus. It is not an important part of this painting and it is too focussed and detailed -- and takes the eye away from the important pears and cloth. Well done, but a bit more reflective color and looseness would make it really special.