Dried Hydrageas WIP

Ok, I'll admit I have AWOL for a bit.  Just haven't been able to bring the stuff I was working on to fruition.  I have been studying the course from drawmixpaint.com and it takes me a while to assimilate new things.  There is an excellent oil painting course, by Mark Carder, a terrific realistic portrait painter (he has painted a couple presidential portraits for the National Gallery).  He recommends working from a very limited palette to mix any color, using a color checker and working from life.  Since that meets two of my goals this year, color mixing and life work, I have been trying to view and review all the videos and read the forum on his website to get brave enough to give it a shot.  I had a  hot scheme to work from the photo on the iPad, but they say that the colors won't turn out correctly.   I do have an app that breaks out all the colors used in a photo which I am going to try on another picture.

So I gave up and thought I'd try to set up a still life.  Not sure it works compositionally (yep another thing I need to work on), but ... here is a raku pot I made at clay day in NC, hydrangeas that I dried several seasons ago, and a cheap $ store pot that actually looks pretty good in the set up.   I never have been much at flowers and have tried the hydrangeas before but without much success so there are lots of learning things in this set up.

I built a light box out of foam core and t-pins, I also can change out the background and floor colors by using construction paper, which changes up your reflection colors.  Since I appreciate all my digits also built a color checker out of foam core instead of wood,  not sure how long it will hold up, but worth a try.  Mark gives excellent directions on how to make the color checker and a proportional divider for enlarging your still life onto paper.  I am also going to make that and am going to try using two paint stir sticks that used to be free at the paint departments - they may still be.  (Paul is going to get to use the drill).  I am working with the water mixable oil paints but am using Artisian painting medium, to see if I can get a smoother and thinner consistency but still give me slower drying as Mark recommends blending after you get all colors in place.  

I decided to do this as a WIP just so you all know I am still here.  Besides you guys may have suggestions as this moves along.  Feel free to talk to me.

It really helps to put the reference picture beside what I have done,  I already see lots of things that are off, but will start again to try to get colors more in tune and work on the shapes.  I already can see that when I mix color my mind has a much lighter impression of what the color and value really is and that is one of the things Mark talks about on his videos.  He claims that is one of the differences between amateurs and pros.  So really this method is about value first then color second.  But while the color checker looks like it matches both the set up and the photo show the colors lighter, so will need to figure that out and why I am off.

Thanks much for stopping by and hope you will have a super week.