I began by underpainting the green and orange crystals with cadmium yellow. This will show through future glazed layers, making the final green and orange more vibrant. I have found that greens and oranges, painted this way, with a transparent glaze over a bright yellow ground, have a vibrancy that opaque mixtures lack.
The next step, below, was to put in the basic local colors. I don’t worry too much about details at this point. I also don’t worry about getting the colors exactly right. Until more paint is down, it’s impossible to judge them correctly. Some of the drawing got lost in the underpainting, so I spent some time re-seeing and re-painting details (though not the tiny ones yet!)
Below, I’m getting much more specific about shapes, colors, and values. It’s much easier this time than the last go I had at it! It keeps getting easier. The adjoining areas have progressed at the same pace as the necklace, so it’s easier to see how everything relates now. I spent some time observing the color of all of the reflections. The ones on the left are coming in from a window, so are bluish. The ones on the right are from my spotlight, a warm yellowish color.
Below, I’ve begun indicating the texture of the metal chains, and refined some shapes. I studied the structure of the necklace, so that I could see it better and then simplify it for the painting.
Below, I’ve softened some edges on the chain and crystals, added more reflections from the window, and firmed up some of the smaller bits of metal hardware, especially around the orange crystal.
The final version is below. I re-painted much of the orange crystal. I also refined the highlights on all of the hardware. I softened some more edges. I say it’s done, but I may yet see something I want to fix!
Linda Mann Artist 