Peruvian Lilies Demo - Twenty-two of 30 in 30

Peruvian Lilies, 8 x 6, oil panel, L. Daniel © 2015

#22 in 30 Day Challenge

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Today was the first day of my 3 day still life workshop in Austin. Guess what the focus is? Yep, water, glass and light. This is the demo I did for the class. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures at every stage, but you can see the progression. I promised to post process notes for them, so here it is in my 30 day line up... 

Block-in and shadow family defined.

My subject was backlit, so capturing and holding the shadows was particularly important. The best way to see the values is to squint down and go for the large masses. Keep the shapes simple. (The warm pink dot on the flowers and the brilliant green in the vase reflection were hints of my color direction in the next steps.)

Light family added and canvas covered.

My goal at this stage is to have the values working in all the large masses. This is also a good stage to make adjustments to value, shapes and drawing if necessary. Notice how the background color mutes when seen through the glass. I recommend painting the drape color first and then modifying that for the tone which appears through the glass. The same goes for the ground color.

Masses are broken up with slight value shifts and highlights added. 

It's very important to save established values when breaking up the masses. The shifts need to be subtle. Use temperature shifts to make the color sing. In this case, the light was warm and the shadows were cool. Save spectral highlights till the very end!

PS - The Peruvian Lily also goes by the names of Alstroemeria and Lily of the Incas. They last a really long time, except when they have hot spotlights on them. :)

Please join me for these upcoming Workshops:

March 26-29, 2015 | Plein Air | Click here to register: Austin, Texas

April 30-May 2, 2015 | Plein Air | Click here to register: St. Simons Island, GA