Day 2- With great anticipation day two began. One of the bad habits I engage in and need is not cleaning my palette. I do clean my brushes the same day but the big glass palette is usually left without cleaning the days previous mixed colors. My first 15 minutes or more, first thing, is scraping the glass and getting it pristine clean. It's sort of a meditation for me and gets my thinking transitioned into what I will be doing. While I'm scraping I think of my next steps. It works and I can't do without it. I guess you could call it a form of foreplay.
The dark background is still wet so the vase needs to be blocked in and the edges worked into the background. The blue is a low chroma blue almost gray so out comes the grays-Portland and Torret Grays from Gamblin (not an ad but they are wonderful). Cobalt blue is added into the grays. Two values are mixed for light shape, shadow shape. The mantra plays in my head as I look at the form-light shape, shadow shape. Say that three times fast.
I also thinly block in a dark blue/umber value for the rug. Having a dark surface to paint the pattern of the rug on is a must. The dark gives the light threads a three dimensional look which adds to the texture feel.
This is the progress after about four hours at the easel. I have blocked in the light and shadow shapes of the white cloth leaving the lace area untouched. Painting the open lace work needs a different process. When blocking in the light and shadow, my light value (about a 2/3) is the middle value for the light. That way I can go lighter and a little darker to build the form. Same in the shadow area. The shadow value is about a 7. Translucent light areas are ignored at this point and I have to simplify, simplify, simplify.
This will need to dry so tomorrow will probably be the rug area. Stay tuned.
T
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