This week’s featured artist is Vic Vicini, a member of the daily painters whose artwork depicts retro diner scenes, food, and the occasional classic car.
Vicini’s paintings of food, in particular, are bright, realistic and just a lot of fun to look at. I especially enjoy his larger works which combine several objects in a row, like the painting above.
There’s a really strong graphic element to those “combination” paintings, making them look a little like patterns or pop art instead of traditional still lifes.
Vic also has a knack for painting glossy, reflective surfaces. Metal bowls, glass tumblers, silverware, even raw eggs—he makes it all look easy as pie.
Of course, it’s those “extra” highlights which really make that yolk pop off the canvas.
Our eyes instinctively know that anything reflecting all those points of light MUST be extremely round (to pick up light from everywhere in the room) and very shiny (to give such crisp reflections).
And finally, here’s my personal favorite—not just because I love donuts, but because of the way Vic arranged these donuts before painting them.
What do I mean? Well, just take a look at the painting. Where do your eyes go?
Even with twelve (almost perfectly) round donuts placed in a grid format, Vicini has created a composition with diagonal movement and a lot of visual appeal. For instance, “boring” donuts separate the more “interesting” ones so that your eyes quickly begin to move at an angle rather than just horizontally or vertically.
Also, the four corner donuts are all very strong graphic elements. . . the most powerful donut (the solid pink one) is in the upper left to keep your eyes going back to the start of the painting, the only two black donuts are diagonally opposite each other, and there’s a fairly strong spiral donut in the lower right.
Hm. . . hungry yet? Me too.
And for something tasty every day, check out Vic Vicini’s daily painting blog or visit his website at www.viciniart.com.
