Marble Bowl and Leaves - Work in Progress

This piece, "Marble Bowl and Leaves" is 12" x 16" soft pastel on Wallis white sanded paper mounted to 4 ply Conservation board (I purchased several from Dakota Pastels.) The photos work backwards with the drawing being the last photo. The painting still needs to be finished and I will post the finished piece this next week.

Keep in mind this is one approach to painting with pastels. This process works well for Light and Shadow concepts (chiarscuro). However, good composition is necessary for working in any medium. I'm not a proponent of "happy accidents", my accidents are never "happy" and I need a way to approach all my paintings because I'm a creative "creature of habit".

Continuing to paint and work out the specifics (details)

The leaves and table cloth are yet to be "painted", and there will be all kinds of tweaking once I work on them. For one, the left jug will probably be toned down in value because I want the leave to carry the light to the marble bowl.

Blending the colors

(makes the white of the Wallis Paper go away-I use my fingers)

Blocking in the color

(gives you a good foundation for continuing to paint and add details and colors)

Blocking in the Light and Shadow Structure (should be a good abstract if done well.) The best way to see the structure is to squint your eyes.

Needs a lot of thought when composing and lighting your still life setup

Dynamic Symmetry Armature (for composition and design)

and Drawing (for placement and perspective)