#vendingmachine

Working in a series is often more complex than you might think.

Take my candy vending series, for example. On a whim, I decided to add a panel with the largest piece of broccoli I have ever painted – almost 2 feet tall. Here it is before I painted in the vending machine rings.

Since I wanted it to mesh with the rest of the series, I put it up on the mantle to compare shading, color and size of the dark rings going any further. The mantle ended up doing double duty as an easel.

This worked for a while as long as I was painting near the bottom. Eventually I got the kitchen step stool out.

Here I am looking happy – right before I got black paint on my newly painted fireplace mantel… Now I know why artists keep so many easels in their loft studios.

I’ll have to look for a better strategy if I want to keep the pristine look of my newly painted studio, which you can check out this coming weekend.

Here’s the finished painting. 

It fits in very well with the rest of the series visually. Maybe a little paint on the mantel is a small price to pay.

One thing is certain: The addition of the broccoli sure does make me think differently about the whole series. It will be interesting to hear what people have to say about it.

What do you think? Feedback is much appreciated.