Colour Start

What  a busy time of year. A lot of things are pulling me out of the studio. So it has taken me awhile to get back to this painting.
Here is the Nicknack painting with the beginning colour layer. Before I added local colour I stained the tonal drawing with a thin coat of transparent red oxide giving it a warm orangy glow which I hope will peak through.
I will  punch lights and darks as the painting progresses. Trying to not get fiddly yet as this is only the colour mapping and thinking about edges. I am working with some of my scruffy hog hair bristle brushes and leaving my fine sables alone.
Well it is another busy day so I must leave this painting at this stage and hopefully find time over the weekend to continue.
Happy Painting

Nicnaks in the Greenhouse Window

Sometimes, artists are given little vignettes of beauty in their surroundings.  One morning I was offered one such scene. The early morning sun was shining thorough the Greenhouse window. My greenhouse window is a collector of nicnaks, often randomly placed. I quickly took a picture and went on my way.
While uploading and editing other pics of still life compositions, this lone image again caught my interest. I cropped it to fit a square canvas.
I drew the image onto a 16x16" canvas using the grid method. I am underpainting it in a combo of black and burnt umber with oms as my medium. I chose to underpaint it instead of my usual direct method for a couple of reasons. Because it is a busy composition, I wanted to make sure the play of strong lights and darks works and allows me to check for drawing errors before I apply colour.
Here is the painting with the underpainting partially completed.