Pitcher picture 4

I think I am almost there with the pitcher and hellebore. The background has been filled in, with the shadow to the right - I had to use black to make it stand out from the dark blue and green base colour, but the black (Sennelier Ivory Black)  has been scumbled over the base, so it is not quite as stark as it might otherwise have been, and I have softened the edges of the shadow, although it was quite sharp in reality.

I have moved into soft pastels, using Sennelier and Schminke -  and some Rembrandt both in the background and foreground. There are still refinements to be made before I sign this, but I will frame it with 6 mm spacers separating it from the glass, and no mount, all of which will enhance the effect.

Pitcher picture 3

This is really a very poor photograph - the auto setting on my camera simply cannot deal with the range of contrast between the background and the subject. However, here is the final image. Note the found edges on the right, where the light comes from, and the lost edges on the left.
The main change from the last image is of course, the dark background mix of Sennelier dark green  - 179 - dark blue and brown. I have tightened up the lettering on the brushes, and added some colour notes on the pitcher - mainly shades and tints of olive green and gold ochre. Little dots of light and dark gray for the "distressed" areas of verdigris to finish. And finally some Schminke greys for the foreground and middleground - these are labelled neutral, but I find a distinctly brown tendency in them.

Pitcher picture 2

This is stage 2 of the pitcher picture with paint brushes. I have started to introduce some subtle colour into the greys of the undercoat, mostly yellow and gold ochres, but also some olive greens. The brush handles have some ochre, reds and browns. I have also started to block in the background in order to judge the tones. The background is not black - there are darks blues, greens and browns in it.
I changed the position of the front leg of the vessel - it is in fact a little bent in reality, but I thought that it looked like an error on my part, rather than a flaw in the pitcher, so I "fixed" it!

Pitcher picture 1

These two images are the first stages of a still life that I have set up with a small brass pitcher covered with dust and verdigris that I absolutely refuse to polish off!

The first image, with the paintbrushes, shows a selection of greys down along the left side that I chose for the first layer. From the top down, there are seven CarbOthello pencils; then seven Rembrandts; followed by nine Schminke neutral greys from dark to light - they have a distinctly brown tinge compared to the others - useful fro the brass. Then there are six Sennelier and finally three Derwent pencils. Needless to say, the paintbrushes were done with further colours.

I have used the same set of greys for the second image, apart from the hellebore, where I used only Derwent pencils. In fact, both images have made use only of the CarbOthello pencils to this point in the process. The next layer will introduce more colour - probably the Schminke, but by no means confined to these.