Sugar Daddy, Gumball X 1975

Charles Bell made "Sugar Daddy, Gumball X" with oil paint in a way that makes me think about how we see things. It's like he's not just painting what's there but also how light and reflections play tricks on our eyes. Look at the way he paints the gumball machine, all shiny and round. The colors of the gumballs are so rich and bright, but they're also kind of distorted because of the glass. It’s like seeing the world through a big, colorful bubble. There's this one spot where the light catches the glass, and it makes this wild, swirling pattern. It's almost abstract, like a little painting within the painting. That’s where you can see Bell’s hand in the piece. You can see the movement and the way he's thinking about the process of painting as much as the image itself. Bell reminds me a bit of Wayne Thiebaud, both capturing the everyday sweetness of life but with a painterly eye. This piece isn’t just about gumballs; it's about how we look, remember, and maybe even how we desire.