| Here is some progress on the Coca-Cola Cooler painting. This is the largest painting I've done since school - it's 40"x32"! I know this is nothing compared to some art, but this is really large to me. Currently, I'm working on the first layer and just trying to get to the acrylic gesso covered. I'll have the background completed in the next couple days and then I'll let it dry for a week or so. This white background is mostly titanium white which is a slow drying color. I learned early-on not to work on a painting with large wet areas of paint. A mistake made in semi-dry oil paint on a very smooth panel is almost irreversible. So with this big painting too wet to work on, I'll turn my attention to another piece. | |
My other painting is much smaller, only 12"x8". It's of a famous south side Chicago ice cream, Rainbow Cone. This maybe intended for a bit of a niche market, but many people in Chicago are serious Rainbow Cone enthusiasts; some will wait in line for an hour to get a cone at the original location. I didn't grow up eating Rainbow Cone, nor have I ever heard of it until I started dating my fiancee, Kate. Her family goes crazy over this ice cream and like many Chicagoans, grew up eating it.
I ran into a bit of trouble with how to get one of these ice cream cones into the studio to be photographed. My initial plan was to make the ice cream cone here at the house; Rainbow Cone also sells the ice cream by the quart. However, the unique, patented ice cream scoop plays a major role in how the cone is made. I even emailed the folks at Rainbow to purchase a scoop, but they were unfortunately unable to sell me one.
I ran into a bit of trouble with how to get one of these ice cream cones into the studio to be photographed. My initial plan was to make the ice cream cone here at the house; Rainbow Cone also sells the ice cream by the quart. However, the unique, patented ice cream scoop plays a major role in how the cone is made. I even emailed the folks at Rainbow to purchase a scoop, but they were unfortunately unable to sell me one.
The nutty things I do to make a painting With my plans scrapped to make the ice cream cone at home, I decided I needed to buy a couple cones at the Creamery and transport them home. Of course this would require some way of keeping the ice cream from melting. So I converted a cooler into an ice cream cone transporter. I made a cone holder to be placed at the bottom and a top rack to hold a block of dry ice. Remember cold air sinks, and hot air raises. Luckily, obtaining dry ice wasn't too difficult, many grocery stores around here supply it. I had no idea if this thing was going to work. Was the cooler going to be cold enough? Would the ice cream fall over during to ride home? Was the teenager making the ice cream cone going to create a worthy representation? A lot could go wrong!
 Photo Reference, Not a Painting! | Luckily, I got the cones packed into the cooler with the dry ice and loaded into the truck before they had a chance to melt. To my surprise, they were in perfect condition after the ride home and I was able to get a great, sharp photo reference for the painting. As you can see, this is a unique ice cream cone. The first layer is chocolate, then strawberry, palmer house (cherry w/walnuts), pistachio, and finally orange sherbet. I'm excited to get started.  |
