Day 7 of 30 – Vending Machine

There are a lot of firsts in this painting.

This is my first vending machine painting, my first food related painting on a black background (a color I rarely), the first work where my subject is half-submerged in shadows – and my first unfinished painting for the Challenge.

Vending Machine is also the first wrapped candy painting of this Challenge, a potential series I have been thinking of about since I did a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup during the January Challenge. I’ve had a Twix Bar lying around since Halloween, which I intended to paint since it was my account at DMB&B Advertising in my previous life. You can read more about my sentimental attachment to the candy industry here.

The choice of subject was actually inspired by a detour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to a student show, where Jay and I saw a drawing of a whole vending machine. And that was the ahah! moment right before we moved on to the John Singer Sargent exhibit, our intended destination. Afterwards, the search for the right vending machine began. I never realized that all vending machines aren’t created equally. Jay found this one with the most iconic candy brands lined up all in a row, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Getting the initial sketch right was critical, so I studied many photos and actually packages, taking extra care setting up the structure and putting in the details.

I painted from the inside out, starting with the vibrant colors that brought the iconic logos to life, minimizing the chance of colors bleeding into one another.  Then I put in the black rings, followed by the black background, which changes everything so it’s important not to wait too long.

There were so many details in those logos and wrappers that by mid-afternoon I was thinking maybe I bit off more than I could chew, that this was at least a 2-3 day painting, and I must have been crazy not to practice on a simpler vending machine painting with just one bar, like the Twix photo I was using as a reference. I even considered just doing a Twix drawing (which I used to call dinner during those late office nights) and just calling it a day.

But the 4-bar composition intrigued me from the moment I took the photos of our old office vending machine. The repetition of the circular wires holding the candies add a rhythm with their cast shadows and provide a unifying pattern – so I kept going. I drew on some lessons learned from my first  Challenge:

1. Stay calm
2. Simplify the details
3. Focus on the net impression; don’t look at every crooked line
4. Plan a strategy,
5. Be bold not timid
6. Just hunker down to pull the painting off
7. Put aside your skepticism

This was one of the pivotal decisions I faced: Do I paint the bars as if they completely lit in the foreground, or stick to my original vision and put in shadows so they recede and are dramatically lit, which seemed to be more difficult than I had time for? I decided to go for the drama – and it’s drama that I got for the next few hours as I experimented with one color after another… after another…. for the shadows (while secretly wishing I had bought that metallic oil paint for the Twix wrapper.)

The question for all you artists out there: What would you have done? In retrospect, I was in a pretty good place at this point, but maybe didn’t know it. Perhaps I should have skipped the shadows or changed the background and the bottom strip colors to charcoal grey. I would appreciate the feedback.

Here’s where I was when I got up the next morning. The Reese’s was still muddy and the Twix was just sitting there.

I spent a few more hours experimenting with the shadows, and decided to call it a day since I was jeopardizing my next painting. At this point, the paint was too thick and wet, and I wasn’t adding any value.

I wish I had more time on this painting so I could have let it dry before reworking it right away (so what else is new), and kept the painting surface smoother. But then I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did about what I’m capable of under pressure (self-imposed, I admit) – something to keep in mind when I get my next commission. Full disclosure: I plan on trying this one again as a 2-day painting with a less severe background after the Challenge is over.

I’m proud of how I moved ahead and didn’t give up – and then wondered what would have happened. Bonnie would call this a learning experience. That’s what I’ll remember when I look at Vending Icons.

What do you see you looking at this one?