Kashkul Final

Kashkul © Niall O'Neill

Last November I stopped posting on the development of this painting as another took priority. However, I finished it recently, and this is it framed. A kashkul is an Indian begging bowl, possibly endemic to Kashmir. The fruits are Cape gooseberries (Physalis peruviana)

I will take you back to where I left off in the next image.

The effect of adding the background is stark and immediate. It allows me to judge values, and to begin to think about reflections. The background is not black, but a melange of Sennelier dark green and dark blue, spread and integrated with the palm of the hand - a dirty business to be sure.

Final adjustments are made to the depth of the contrast. The physalis berries were all revisited, as were the leaf lights, with pastels from the very soft Blue Earth range, all the berry and leaf colours coming their related lemon and yellow ranges respectively, giving an instant harmony to the piece.

Pitcher and crinodendron

This is another painting in my "pitcher" series; this time posed on a chinese hardwood stand, with a spray of Crinodendron hookerianum. The initial sketch is on sand-coloured Pastelmat.

This is the beginning of the block-in. At the same time the dark background is developed in a mix of Sennelier dark blue and dark green - and I'm running out of these pastels. I must order some more!

The crinodendron flowers are a rich red - in the blue-red bias on the colour wheel, not in the orange-red bias. I used quite a selection of tints and shades to get as realistic a rendering as possible. This included Sennelier and Schminke rose madders, madder lake and Bordeaux red, and Caran d'Ache and Derwent pastel pencils. The Chinese stand has my reliable Carbothello pencils and the very soft Blue Earth yellow series, which has some very rich browns in the darkest shades.

I did add some touches on the pitcher after this was photographed, but it's close enough to the finished painting. Finished size 16x12 ins, 40 x 30 cms.

© Niall O'Neill