And it goes Pop!

Spring has sprung!    Well it kind of did on Saturday, then it went missing...   Monday was horrible, we had fog all day,  Tuesday the fog took ages to clear and today, woke up to blue skies.  Makes all the difference. 

I decided to just do some colouring after mum's portrait.   I'm working on a fruit bowl still life, and three vases.  This was how the three vases looked on Monday.  Took me a few hours to just get to this stage.   then I changed my mind as to where I wanted the light source to be.   It was going to be on the right side as you look at the picture, but I chose to put it on the left, so out came the eraser,  just had to make sure I got them all in the right place!   At this stage they still look flat,  so lots of work still needed to be done.  Basically it is adding layers of colour, different shades of greens, blues etc, making sure you get the dark areas dark.    So kept going....

And here it is, the finished piece.   Many hours later I should add.   I worked on the shadows today,  using several greys to get the right shade and building it up slowly.  The vases 'pop' because of a very fine line of a deeper shade of say green in the case of the green vase, and so on.   The shadow then accentuates it,   bringing a 3D effect, or so I hope!?     I also used my metallic silver pencil for the first time on this, but used two light greys underneath it.  Each vase has many layers of colour.   I cross hatched the background, that was after laying down some white, then used a blender and burnisher.  

I love doing this sort of work, it is frustrating at the beginning, because it feels like nothing much is happening, so you have to trust yourself that it will all come together.  I felt very happy when today the picture emerged,  it went from flat to 3D.    Wowser! 

Didn't have a good start to the day,  I was supposed to go on an outing with my the art therapy people.   I was up early,  but the last couple of outings haven't been happy.   I've found myself largely on my own,   I've been to quite a few outings,  know quite a few people, on nodding terms, but I can't seem to find my way in to the clique.   Today I didn't feel like facing that battle, so I cancelled.   The next outing is in two weeks, but that involves taking part in an art project, so I will attend that.    I did a tiny bit of gardening, tidied up the lavender,  but really I need a new plant,  the St John's Wort has also had it.  I want to replace both with fresh plants, and get some new stuff like honeysuckle for the trellis, I've had no success with the clematis.   The large rose bush is doomed, it will come out this year, I've had enough of it dominating everything.    I'll get some new pots tomorrow, maybe one or two plants and make a start.   

I've started a landscape in colour,  just working on the sky, which will take me a couple of days.   I'm having more success with skies now,  easier to work with an eraser than brush!    No sign of my spectrum noirs being dispatched from CnC!   A bit miffed with that, they used to be better than this.  Nor any sign of my Zen garden,  very miffed about that, as I ordered two, one for me, and one for a friend as a birthday present.   Moan over,  enjoy this lovely weather...