The painting is at the stage where I can begin to get things to look more like they’re supposed to. The first thing I did today was to glaze the bottle so that it was almost as dark as it needed to be. This photo has a bit of glare. The bottle is actually darker.
While the glaze was wet, I painted some reflections right into it. It’s a very nice technique because the wet paint blends into the glaze, so it seems like part of the glass. The trick is getting the values right. Many of them are not much lighter than the glass. I didn’t paint the brightest bits yet. Those, I save for the end. See First Glazes on Bricks and More Work on Basket for more on glazing.
I painted the two dried sage leaves hanging on the sandstone. These were very hard for me to see before, but today, it seemed almost easy. It’s a little bit of magic that happens after you’ve been studying something intensely. I find that it’s very much like when I’m trying to learn something on the piano. I practice over and over again, never seeming to master it. I go away for a few days, and often I perform the tricky bit effortlessly. I suppose my brain continues to work during my time away! There is still more detail work to do on them, but that’s for another day.
I darkened shadows and picked out a few details on the driftwood that were easier for me to see today. Again, the more that’s in place, the easier it is to continue with the painting! I went over the sandstone, adjusting values and colors.
I darkened the right side of the painting with a glaze. I re-painted the shape of the orange geode, darkened the shadows under the dish and the one cast by the sandstone onto the wall on the far left. I worked all over the painting today. Now I can let it sit over the weekend to dry a bit, before I continue to refine.
Linda Mann Artist 