My Latest Still Life Painting ("The Brass Bell") and its Development.

The Brass Bell
8" x 10"
Oil on birch
2018

Greetings fellow Steemians!

In this post I thought I’d share and discuss my latest still life painting along with its creative unfolding process.

But before I do, I’d like to take a moment to point out and express my appreciation for this recently obtained painting medium I’ve been wanting to work with. This is officially the first painting I finished using this medium and I thought I’d give a little review.

I have to say that I enjoyed using it a hell of a lot more than I thought I would!
For one thing it took care of the gloss issue that was bugging me. There is still some gloss of course, but it isn't overpowering.

What's really cool about it is that it makes everything so even! No more uneven patches! And if you need to rework an area, there's no problem as you can just oil out with the stuff the next day as the painting is already dry to the touch :)

So of course as I usually do, I began with a transfer drawing of the bell and sealed it with ink.

The thought did cross my mind that I usually start with a pre toned surface, either with raw or burnt umber, but with considering this new medium I was trying out (as it speeds up drying time like maroger) I thought I’d aim towards just getting the whole surface covered and i’ll be ready to go over it again on the second pass the following day.

As the cast shadow of the bell was the darkest valued shape of the painting, I then began massing the shape in with burnt umber and a little ultramarine blue.

Then starting from the top and working my way down, I then began to work on the edges of the background prepping myself towards working on the bell. Thinking in this manner assisted in achieving greater edge control.

Then starting from the outside and working inwards, from top to bottom I then started to render form across the bell.

After the initial pass on the bell, I then began to expand outwards and work on the rest of the background.

At this stage I then decided to adjust the edges of the cast shadow by extending the darker midtones outwards.

Working outwards from the shadow, I then decided to rework the whole of the background by compressing the overall value scheme. I really wanted to emphasize the concept of raking light.