Dried Hydrangeas WIP Continues

Well first off got to say today was better than yesterday.  It felt more normal to be painting again and I think that I feel a bit refreshed after my break.  Also am watching some videos of John Howard Sanden, who has to be one of the greatest portrait painters of our time, as he tackles copying a Singer Sargent - wow what a way to get inspired.   While his method isn't exactly like Marks, there are similarities that can be blended together.  They are the same though, in that they paint from dark to light.

Anyway, got to admit that I am already off track from correctly and absolutely using Mark's oil painting method.  But I do have some steps mixed for the hydrangeas so am trying to get back on track there.  Again looking at the pic vs the ref side-by-side I see things that need to be corrected.  but the good news is that it is coming together.  

Also am liking the smushiness of the oil and learning to be patient and not mix/blend (tendency is to do that and trying to keep my strokes separate).  Was surprised to even be able to do some blending today, even though yesterday's colors are tacky, without putting medium on it to be able to wet into wet.  Also nice to be able to use the premixed piles of color I made yesterday that were inside my covered palette.  They say oil of cloves helps your oils to stay moist longer - going to check that our as Paul would never let me near the freezer with my paints.

Val, here is a picture of the color checker.  You put your color on the blue plastic part (paint can easily be wiped off for next use) and then hold the checker at arm's length.  You look through the screw eye at your still life and you can see if the color is the right value and color.  If it is not, you ask what color is needed, remix, and then put new color on the blue part and start the process again.  You move the checker around, using your premixed steps, changing the colors as needed.   It helps you to catch all the color changes as objects transition around their shapes.  They say that after 4-5 paintings this becomes really automatic and you can quit your dependency on the checker unless you are struggling to get a color.

By the way I could easily come to hate hydrangeas, even thought I really like them when I don't have to try to paint them.  

Thanks much for taking a look and hope to have more progress tomorrow to post.