Last tuesday the 16th the instructor demonstrated how to create the shadows and brights on the sugar canister on the right side of my painting. We used the same color mixture for the larger canister, mixing the lighter blue, orange, white and a little bit of the darker blue. As we applied the paint our instructor demonstrated using the side of your brush to apply it to make it look smoother.

We then painted the lighter parts on the canister, mixing more white to make it lighter. Then for the final touch up we mixed white and oaker yellow to highlight the lightest part where the light is hitting the object. That tuesday we were also graded for our painting. The things i need to fix if I have the time is to bring the rim of my plate down, the rim of my bowl needs to be lowered a little bit, the handle on my pitcher is too light and needs to be toned down, and my canister has two white strokes that are too light and need to be toned down.

Step five January 21, 2010

We continue the dark to light technique that we learned in the previous classes. We stand back from our work every once in awhile to check if there needs to be any corrections on composition or shapes in the objects. We add wet paint to where we are going to be working on. White, both blues, and light orange are mixed to match the grey on the pitcher. We are reminded to always mix white with another color and not to apply it on the canvas by itself. Using a large amount of white with a little bit of yellow creates the color that we will use to apply on the light spots on the picture. The light color on the shadow cannot be as light as the light side of the object. Margee explains how using different paintbrushes helps us not use just one paintbrush constantly and having to clean it all the time. Margee also demonstrates different strokes alternating the angle and crossing strokes as you paint over the object. Stepping away from our work helps us check composition, along with squinting and comparing is encouraged. Not thinking of what you're painting is also suggested, along with leaving your work for awhile and taking a break.

Step 4 January 19, 2010

In step four we did a Blocking-In process, which is the basecoat of the entire canvas. This is just applying layers of paint over a period of time. We apply dark layers on first then later add light layers. We apply an anchor color which is a medium tone that is applied to everything in the painting. We start by painting the silver objects in the picture and we mix the colors by mixing blue, orange, light blue, and white. After mixing color together, we compare it to the object being painted by checking accuracy of the color. Applying the paint to dark areas first is done quickly holding the paintbrush on the side. Yellow, white and orange or red are added to soften edges where light and dark meet.

Still life painting

For our first painting in this class we are doing a still life. the still life includes just some random things like a glass vase, a plate with a few onions placed on it, a bowl, etc. To prepare our canvas we applied Gesso on it first, applying it freely and not just in one direction. After we let that dry we begin to put on brown sienna paint and water mixed with mineral spirits, also doing free application and not in just one direction. Margee, our teacher, demonstrated how to apply it, and she did so by using a long paint brush holding it at almost the end of it, and that gave her a better degree on applying it. It covered more space that way.

The first step after doing that was picking out what viewpoint we liked best to apply to our canvas. We did so by taking two peices of cut cardboard, putting them together to make it look like a rectangle. that helped us view different angles and what certain objects we thought were interesting to include in it. I made an outline of the bowl, the plate, the vase and two other objects. i had a little trouble with the object my the vase, but margee showed me the dot application, which helped me alot. it helped me even out the sides. after we did a rough outline, she wanted us to apply more detail just on the ouside judt in 2D form. after margee okayed my outline, i just placed my canvas to dry on one of the counters and next class we will start more steps.