2nd session - Painting a still life

Ok, in the last session I established a washy tone on the canvas for a ground (as seen below). I sketched in the basic objects and their shadow shapes for placement and size. I got an idea of where my foreground, mid-ground and background are going to be. Now, in this session, I want to begin working with thicker paint. I want to start to make color decisions and establish values. I've put away my turpentine and I am now using linseed oil.

I've corrected my drawing a bit further, then applied a generalized color to each object with consideration to preserving any shadows or darks that I want to keep intact. The vase is gray and green, the small jar is red, the ashtray is blue, the nail is rusty brown... and so on. Just paint a brief generalization of what you are looking at. This generalized color being applied is often slightly more muted than the final brilliant brushstrokes that will come later. Meaning, they are slightly more drab, more dull, more gray, and a shade darker in value. It's not always the case, but generally speaking with oils, you want to work from dark to light. Compared with watercolors you want to work from light to dark.

I mostly just want to get something on the canvas now so that I have something to work with later... it's some kind of starting-point. The blue of the ashtray may not be the exact blue I want... but it's a good starting-point that I can now ask myself, "Does it need to be a cooler blue? A warmer blue? Or, do I need a more intense blue?"... and so on. As a result, this is the blue I have now. It's more important to look at this blue in terms of how best it relates to everything else (the other colors, the other values, the quality of light and the background). At this point, I have the flexibility to make these design decisions.

Another reason to just get a color on the canvas now, is so that you can begin to describe the planes of the object and deal with your drawing issues. You can also make adjustments to the value of the objects vs. the background. These are all just starting points that will be revised as you develop your image but you need now to have an idea of where you're going with these issues. The issues being: color and value. What is the color of your object going to be? What is the value of your object going to be? How do they relate to your background? How do they relate to one another?

Tips:
- It sometimes helps when drawing an object to paint around it, by painting "negative space".
- Think in terms of value: Is that something dark or light in value and how does it relate/compare to other objects, or to the rest of the painting, or to the background. It's more important to have "nailed" the value of something than it is to have nailed the exact color of something.
- Look for shifts in color temperature: Is something cool, warm or neutral?