Thursday, October 28, 2010

Final touches for Still Life #1

I've been putting some finishing touches on this still life, including lightening up areas of the background instead of keeping it one solid colour. The greens in the bottle have been drying at different rates and the camera itself is picking that out as well. When the area dries, the bottle should sit more quietly in the background. The final thing I want to do is to improve the blending in the spout -- my old brushes were making that difficult. That's all that's left before calling it quits and taking the tea pot home.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Red, White and Green Still Life -- nearing completion...

I've spent the last few sessions on small details, softing and hardening edges to bring things to a final finish.
Last night I repainted the bottle, first oiling in the surrounding area so that I could see again the paint that has already sunk in. I still need to lose the edge on the left side or at least make it more symmetrical with the right, even though I've been painting it exactly the way I see it. The other things left on my To Do List include:
  • repainting the highight on the tea pot again using white mixed with stand oil to make it both brighter and more opaque than a regular glaze
  • smoothing the finish on the spout
  • adding a grey glaze to the top of the roll on the red cloth (genuine dust has accumlated now)
  • repainting the tea pot's handle, especially the edges that meet the background 


Monday, October 11, 2010

Wayne's Portrait -- Finished and Drying

Well, it took long enough but I finally wrapped up this picture on this Thanksgiving weekend.  I first added glazes of white and blue to the left backround to give the impression of window panes. Then I concentrated on sharpening some edges and softening others on the shirt. The larger areas I worked in are still very fresh and glossy, which the camera picks up no matter angle or setting I use. Eventually, the linseed oil/mineral spirits mixture will evaporate and the pigment will sink back into a dull matte, like the rest of the background and the chest. As it dries over the next six months, everything should even out -- and then come alive when I varnish. Now on to the next one.