To all of you who came to my Open Studio and enthusiastically “took a bite” to enter my Oreo Cookie Contest, I want to thank you for your participation and wish you good luck!
Now the process begins to select the top Oreo Cookies finalists. It will be particularly challenging this year since there were so many contestants with creative ideas on how to bite an Oreo. There are almost too many great choices – if such a thing is possible.
The first step is to perfect the lighting across the Oreos. My favorite paintings usually have dramatic interplay of lights and darks along cracked surfaces – and lots of extra crumbs! Then I photograph each cookie for safe keeping.
After many years of painting Oreos, I have found that having a visual record of the initial concept is important. The light in my studio changes dramatically from morning to afternoon, shifting the highlights and shadows, which is not optimal. I have new empathy for the French Impressionists who started their outdoor paintings in a particular place at a specific time of day, and then went back daily at the same time to the same spot until they finished.
