At this session it was time to scumble a light orange tone on top of the deeper brown of the wall on the left (actually a lacquered box propped up on its edge). A scumble is a semi-transparent layer of lighter paint dragged over a darker layer underneath so that the under layer shows through. You can see the result in the second photo. I preferred this approach to simply painting it in the correct color in one layer because the transparent nature of a scumble results in a surface with a beautiful pearly quality. This suggested the irregular and reflective nature of the box nicely. When scumbling, you have to remember that the area will look cooler (bluer) than the actual paint mixture that you apply. I had to mix quite a bright orange to achieve this result. Also, the paint has to be dragged over the canvas with a dry brush so that the pigment gets caught by the top surface of the weave of the canvas. I also scumbled a few spots of a lighter and cooler tone at the top to represent the reflections cast from the back wall.
Next I applied myself to working on the basket, adding more strips. I’m not going for finish-level quality here. I’m just trying to get the basic local colors in as best I can. I’m not painting the larger shadows yet. These I’ll glaze in later after this layer is dry.
Here’s how it stands!
Linda Mann Artist 