This painting is named The Heart of a Frenchman. Actually, this is the first painting I have ever named... cool. I had never painted anything from life before. I had always used a photograph or a picture on the computer for reference, but I read in a painting book that, "Painting from life should be one of your first priorities," and it went on to explain that in life there are colors and reflections and changes in tone and temperature that are lost in a camera. I really wanted to give life painting a try, but I wasn't really in the mood to pack everything up and walk around the town looking for a nice spot to sit down and paint, so I grabbed a tomato. The one I had was shaped almost like a heart and I laughed to myself thinking, "It's the heart of a Frenchman," since they love their tomatos so much. I knew a man once who did business with Frenchmen and was having very little success. One day he had a brilliant idea. Each time he was meeting a new client, he would give them a tomato plant as a gift before talking business. For some reason, this gesture caused the Frenchmen to have a lot more respect for him and his business. They would listen to what he had to say rather than immediately disregarding him and his business began to flourish. He said it was all because of the tomato. One tomato ended up not being enough for my painting so I grabbed some cheese, the other staple to French life and a mug - for hot chocolate obviously, and a couple other tomatos. So, voila, The Heart of a Frenchman. 9"x12" Acrylic on Canvas pad.
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