Oil Painting: Still Life of Clementines

5.5" x 7.5" Oil on unstretched canvas

I decided to try painting a still life. It is interesting I think that an artist's style is so clearly personal. I took a watercolor class in town and although we'd be painting the same setup of flowers or squash, everyone in class had a distince style that showed in every painting. Now I know that artists study others and try to incorporate different styles into their work, but it is interesting to me that a style is evident from the beginning. I'll be paying attention to this as I continue to study, and see what I find out. Anyway, I see that I have a style as well, and I wonder why my style is the way it is. Is it the sort of style that I have seen most? Is it what I like best? Is it the easiest for me to paint? I admire many types and styles of art, so I am not sure if I know at this point.

In this still life, I worked on painting cloth (a dish towel from my sister) and trying to "see" the ripples in the cloth and the shadows on the fruit. I'm not sure if I really like the blue background. I like its simplicity, but I am not sure about the tone. Although, I think with the white cloth it works to set off the clementines.