Next Project

I've signed up for an art class starting at the end of April - we're going to do a still life in acrylics. Panic! I've done a bit of acrylics all right, and I know how to mix my paints, and I've done a few abstract projects, but I really don't know where to start when it comes to a proper painting.

With watercolours, I do my photograph, then I trace it, then I mask the main shape and do the background, then I do the small details, etc. I have a formula that works. With acrylics, I don't know if I should start with the background, the foreground, is it best to layer or not... I'll be the new kid on the block in the class, and I want to get the most out of it. So, I'd better start practise.
I've picked my subject - a lovely little Waterford vase that Kelly and Jim gave me the last time they were in Ireland, filled with blue glass pebbles, with a few ribbons in the background. I'm interested in learning how to paint glass and I love the multiple reflections from the pebbles. And it's small enough to transport easily.

So I'm going to try it out for the next few weeks. See if I can figure out an approach that works. I've already looked up on the web, but I haven't found anything of real use. There are some interesting video classes, but the painting seems to emerge as if by magic, not much use to me.

I took lots of pictures, and chose one.
















Then I started with a sketch (not a tracing!), to get a feel for the lights and darks.


















Then I did a tracing. And now, I must look for inspiration as to what colours to pick and how to apply them!