Week 50 - A repeat appearance

Cobalt, Banana, Ballet Shoe & Pistachio from a twice featured artist

This month we’re using the theme “Treats” and I decided to choose colours from an American artist best known for his pastel paintings of sweet desserts.

Believe it or not, this is the first time in three years that an artist has been featured a second time. His first appearance was Week 33 back in 2022 when it was a heatwave in Europe and I featured his artwork “Ice Cream”. Back then I included this quotation which aptly describes the sensation I get when I’m painting, something I will be prioritising in 2025.

"It has never ceased to thrill and amaze me, the magic of what happens when you put one bit of paint next to another. I wake up every morning and paint. I’ll be damned but I just can’t stop."

- Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021) was born Arizona and moved to Los Angeles as an infant. He was 101 when he died and was still painting daily.

Thiebaud was recognised for his vivid and distinctly textured depictions of everyday objects. Whilst young, he had worked in a diner and much of his work reflects on the nostalgia of that period, with rich colour, thick impasto and a sense of playfulness used to create images of desserts, cakes and ice creams in pastel colours.

He also worked as a sign painter, as a cartoonist for Walt Disney and as a graphic designer for the Army before focussing on his painting career in the mid-1950s. Thiebaud gained recognition in the early 1960s, particularly after a successful exhibition at the Allan Stone Gallery in New York in 1962.

While often associated with Pop Art due to his focus on commercial and mass-produced items, his approach was more painterly and deeply rooted in art history, particularly in the traditions of realism and modernism.

You can read more about Thiebaud here and see the featured artwork here. Back in 2022 I came across a charming conversation between him and his publisher, Kathan Brown, to celebrate his 100th birthday which I’m sharing again here.

“Gift Box”, oil on canvas, Wayne Thiebaud, 1981

Colour Combination

The colours for this weeks prompt are Cobalt, Banana, Ballet Shoe & Pistachio. Use the #coloricombo colours along with any neutral light and dark colour to create an artwork in any medium and style.

December’s theme is “Treats”. You can use this as topic and create in any way as you wish, using the week’s colours in any medium and style.

I love to see what you do with the coloricombo colours. If you'd like to share your work, please tag #coloricombo and #estemacleod on social media. You're also welcome to post in the private Facebook group Creative Prompts.

Mini Courses

Would you like to treat yourself to one of my mini courses? Creative Circle has a festive twist, Paper Vases is brand new and all seven make great Xmas gifts, available at a 25% discount until the end of December. All courses have one year’s access from registration. Use code XMAS25 at checkout.

Choose from:

• Paper Vases

• Let’s Paint Cats

• Creative Circle

• Fabulous Fish

• Four Seasons

• Sunset Trees

• Imaginary Butterflies

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