I am done (so so done) with the teacups.
It is odd. The teacups seem to follow you with their eyes! No, but they do look very different depending on the lighting and the orientation. I hated it in the basement, I liked it upstairs in the kitchen, and I like it much more when it is sideways.
Usually when I turn something sideways, the flaws jump right into view. I think I like this one sideways because it puts the middle of the left teacup in the optical center, and the middle of the left teacup is the best part. Only, I grew tired of the gold-on-blue pattern and I got sloppy, which is fine, because it isn’t like the Medicis are drumming their fingers waiting for this.
Also the highlights on the cut glass bowl should be brighter and sharper, but they just would not adhere. I know there are three oil painting rules:
- Slow Over Fast – paint slow drying things last (like white highlights)
- Fat over Lean – you have to add oil for each new layer (thins things out so they won’t crack)
- Thick over Thin – and there’s my problem. If I follow the previous rule and add oil to paint the white highlights, that will thin them down so much they won’t make an impact. I suppose I’m supposed to make two layers of increasingly thin white.
Ugh. So that means I am not done.
2 responses to “Teacups: Done, Because I Have Run Out of Patience”
But it’s looking better and better, so there is that? (I still think you are doing a stunning job of this.)
KC – I suppose. Friend Anne, who also paints, gave me some good advice for the white highlights. I think the next thing I try will be glazes without the black and white underneath, and instead building up the grey shades with glazes of the three primary colors. Or I might do the teacups again, but this time with a different technique that doesn’t takes weeks.