Valta's Blog | valta.nl

Still life again I love the spontaneous settings that are not set deliberately. While making breakfast on a sunny morning, I noticed the lovely shadow effect of the sunlight falling through the window, covering a part of the table and creating a strong tonal light-dark contrast in the room. A kind of chiaroscuro effect. I immediately took some photographs and decided to paint this composition on canvas. I used my primary oil colours (cadmium red, cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue plus burned umber and titanium white) and the alla prima technique. You can find a very short video showing the painting's progress on my account on Instagram. So this became "Breakfast", oil, canvas, 30 x 40 cm. View the finished painting in my gallery .

Another commissioned work Last autumn Paul and I were invited to visit a beautiful garden with some marvellous views. The owners are passionate art collectors so I was asked if I could paint one of those views on canvas, so I took some photographs to use as a reference later on. I was happy to work on this painting, choosing the right composition and using my oil colours in the alla prima technique. And then I handmade a wooden frame for the painting. Now I am very proud the collectors liked the result. So today this painting has moved to their home. So this became "In de tuin bij Kerkpad (bij H en R)", oil, canvas, 24 x 30 cm. View the finished painting in my gallery .