Step 13 - finished

I finished this painting and have managed to flatten it nicely. I have to take a proper photo tomorrow because today is dark and very grey.

Step 12

Today I finished the candy canes and worked some more on the ribbon. I just have the bow to finish and then the final correction of values and details all over the painting.

Step 11

This morning I finished the glass ball on the far left, corrected the reflective shadow under the glass ball, added a darker shadow to the right of the glass, and worked on the candy canes. The end is at least in sight if still far off. I just have the candy canes and ribbon to do and then all the final adjustments. A big part of the finish will be trying to flatten it once completed.

Step 10

This morning I finished the dark red ball and one candy cane. I also worked some more on the ribbon, the yellow ball, and the other candy canes.

Step 9

Today I removed all the masking on the teapot and glass after giving the tea a final wash of yellow. I corrected all the hash highlights left by the masking so the teapot and glass are finished unless there are final corrections after the rest of the painting is done.

I also worked on the candy canes and the glass balls as well as adding more colour to the ribbon and darkening some of the table. I basically worked all over the painting. The paper is still badly buckled which makes painting hard and I'll have to try straightening it when it's done.

Step 8

Only about two hours painting today so far. Probably won't get more done because I am in the middle of preparing Thanksgiving supper.

Today I added a wash of reds to the tea. I will give it a nice yellow wash to finish it off next time. I have also started adding a few reds to the other objects just so I can erase some of the pencil lines and still tell where I'm going. Lots more corrections done on highlights of the glass as well.

Step 7

After over 4 hours of painting today it feels like I am going nowhere slowly. I keep adding layers of colour but it is building up very slowly. I took more of the masking off the glass and teapot and corrected some of the highlights. I added a warmer wash of the table colour to half the painting (it will be darker still on the right side). The most noticeable area is the tea where I've started adding washes of colour to try and get the values as well as the colour right. Still many more washes to go.

The most frustrating part is the huge amount of buckling of the paper that I am experiencing. I hope I can weight it down to flatten it once I am finished. I won't ever work on this weight of paper again unless I can glue it to a backing. The only reason I am painting on it in the first place is that it is a requirment of the show it is going in.

step 6

Today I have darkened the far background and lightened the shadow in the bottom left. I removed some of the masking in the teapot lid and corrected some of the values there. I darkened the darks on the glass. I also darkened the shadows in the foreground and made them more of a brown colour. The whole right side of the table in the painting will be much darker and I will be putting a unifying wash of a pale brown over a lot of the table and shadows later. I want to get to the reds in the tea but I will be putting in darker browns in there first.

Step 5

The best intentions... :) I said I was going to finish all the background before I started on the objects but I couldn't wait to get started on the glass. I'll just work the whole painting at once. It will keep the values consistant anyway. Many more washes needed to get the darks in the glass right but it is fun putting in the abstract shapes and watching it emerge as an image.

step 4

This morning I did a few more hours but it is slow going as I work out where the washes of colour start and end. It is faster once I start glazing layers of washes to build up depth of colour. So far today I added a blue wash in some of the glass. This will end up as a highlight and be mostly covered by darker colours later. I also added another dark wash on the background and some of the shadows. It is difficult to get a good photo with so much contrast between the dark background and the white paper. The photos will look better as I get more paper covered.

Speaking of paper, this lightweight paper is still driving me crazy with the buckling. I won't use it again unless it is glued to a support (which is what I usually do).

Step 3

I worked all weekend so today was the first chance to get back to this. I am finding working on 140 lb paper very frustrating compared to my usual 300 lb. This paper buckles and warps with every wash and is starting to pill where multiple washes have been added. :( I am going to have to handle this paper very gently.

Today I added more colour to the table and started laying in the shadows. They will be getting much darker before I'm finished but the first washes are time consuming as I make decisions about where everything goes. I want the background and table top completely finished before I start with the objects on the table.