What can you learn from painting a still life?

You can learn balance, composition, color, contrast, drawing, and values.

Sounds like we have a lesson plan!

[piano plays in bright rhythm & tone] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ In some respects, I'm sorry you have to wait a second week for a painting to be finished, but this time, you'll say it's worth it!

We'll give you a little more refinement as we'll have a third part to this.

We're into the second part now.

We're working on top of an acrylic stage which has been completed and dry.

And you look over to the left, you can see the original that big beautiful apple blossoms.

Just absolutely love the richness in it and the vitality and the peace and the quiet all together.

So now let's teach you a little bit about those things we promised in the opening.

I will start by putting walnut oil over the whole canvas.

This as we typically do is, push a little bit on and then spread it around with a paper towel.

I don't want to have it real runny, but I want so that the paint will flow quite easily with the simplest push.

I'm wiping with the paper towel, which moves it evenly across the whole surface.

You find, even though you're putting oil on top of acrylics, the walnut oil gives sort of a little sparkle finish to the acrylic stage, doesn't it?

You can see that.

All right, now I still have the one inch brush and we're coming down to the pallet and we're going to pick up Burnt Umber, pure Burnt Umber.

This will go on the background.

When I'm doing this, I will push it on and then work with it a little bit so you get some of the underneath color showing through.

As I doing this, I don't mind if I accidentally touch on the plate a little bit or if I come near the shaker and hit it a little bit, because the colors we're going to put on both the plate and the shakers will be sort of in that family.

Even though the color won't be down here, I'm giving it a little bit of a glaze.

I'll do this around without touching the "vaz."

See, you've grown from a "vase" to a "vaz."

But I'm coming across the apple blossoms just to make them a little bit of a glaze, and then when we add lights, they'll really, they'll sparkle a lot.

All right, I'll work with that just a little teeny bit and the working with it is smoothing it out.

Again, evaluating how much of the underneath color shows through, you allow to show through.

Down here, I'm wiping quite hard because there will be other color put on that area-- the table.

And wipe just a little harder there.

Wipe a little bit off here.

Okay, come across there and then again, kind of evaluating how much of the underneath shows through, how much of the color, and we can always change that.

Once we put on the color on the other objects, there's always that chance to come back and go darker if I want to or other colors in the background.

Okay now, I have a color that I just absolutely love.

Where are you?

Terra Rosa.

Oo, such a neat color.

I'll take a little bit of this and when I come up to the shakers, it's kind of a glaze, so you're putting a tone on that goes across the whole shaker and then you'll wipe a little bit and then add darks.

So you're you're kind of working with a middle tone that you can add lights into and you can add darks into.

Oo, that is so pretty.

I intend after I put this on, is to wipe it just a little bit so again you're you're playing through with what's underneath and with what you just added.

Now my conscience tells me, all right Buck do this shaker and go onto other things and then if you have time, you come back and do that other shaker on stage.

If you don't, they will trust you that you're doing it, doing them the same.

Just a little bit more of the Terra Rosa.

I'll put a touch over there so you know that that's going to happen.

Okay Now I'll wipe this just gently for smoothness.

After I've wiped it for smoothness, then it's either/or.

I could put on the darks first, and I think I'll do that.

Put on the darks on and then we'll work on the lights.

However, before I put the darks on, I can wipe where the lights will go.

So it has just a little time to set up and then the lights will work into that.

Okay, now we're going to go on the darks.

On the darks, I will select... you're a violet.

Quinacridone Violet and Burnt Umber, equal parts.

So you will have a nice dark, but it will also be just a little bit of richness by having the Quinacridone Violet into it.

A little bit down here.

Remember how last week we said, you let the outside edge its shape determine what happens on the inside.

Gee, I can't imagine myself being so quiet!

Sometimes, you let the brush do the talking!

Okay so this is applying the darks.

Now, on-- oh we need to apply the darks up on this as well, along this whole side.

Now with them, I have the chance just to soften where the dark meets the middle tone that we placed on.

See just a little, little change in value.

And I can take, oh, this-- you're you're a great brush-- the mop brush and just gently go on that.

Okay now we'll have some highlights put on.

And let's see what we want to do on that.

Let's take yellow and white.

So we'll take some white, push it here.

Here's Cad Yellow.

So you can see that probably is something like about 10 white and 1 Cad Yellow.

Now let's take a round brush and this will go just in the right spot.

I'll place these on again because it's oil rather than acrylics, it has a chance to dry, or excuse me, to stay wet so you can blend it so it does not dry.

Make sure we get that right.

Do you ever make a mistake, Buck and put acrylic and oil together?

You have to be careful when you're using the whites, because the large white tubes are very similar and yes, Buck has made a mistake once or twice too, but it didn't last a long time, the mistake.

You correct it as soon as you can.

All right on this, let's see, I have another kind of mop brush.

This is just a little smaller, just tap slightly, just soften those a little bit.

Blend this a little bit on the top and bottom so the middle stays sharper.

This blends away, it's very sharp at the edge, because that's a sharp edge, and then these blended a little bit.

I'm sure we'll come back on those a little later and maybe add a little red to it too as well as what we've just done.

I do see I need to run down and take some of that umber and Quinacridone Rose and come up because this has to have a dark line through it too.

And one there.

And one at the bottom.

Okay, let's go, continuing over, let's just go on the plate.

When we do that plate, what is so neat, you can use some of that same Terra Rosa, I have a fan brush and just push this around.

Oop!

Not on the birdie.

[soft scraping] Then a paper towel will kind of soften it a little bit.

[laughs] Did you see what I just did?

I went over and hit the shakers.

Thank goodness the same colors both places.

Now, what I want you to see here is by the small amount of paint, which means the wiping, you have just a real nice feeling of the underneath showing through and it gives you a nice quality of color that's different than just pure color, color through color, next to color also works.

And that brush, a great brush.

Don't ever lose it.

See, look at the difference between this and over in here.

How much richer this is, but this is a different value, because you're letting more of the blue show through.

All right we'll take the umber and the umber will be.

I think again we're going to have to put a little Quinacridone Violet with it so it doesn't get too cold.

This is what we put between the lines on the shakers and this will be the shadow line there.

And then blend it over a little bit.

Some of this will go through here as a cast shadow... right down through the shakers.

Okay, I'll blend that slightly.

Now see, this edge needs to be just a little more definite, because that's the edge before it goes down into the Grand Canyon.

On the blending, I'll take a paper towel with the finger in it.

Just pulling it over slightly like that.

And I'll I'll move this just a little bit so some of it touches on that side, so that's not quite so light.

We will put other colors in the plate, so we don't worry about that being a little too whitish right now.

Let's do one other thing on the plate.

We'll take our yellow and white, maybe a touch of green.

Viridian Green and then here's where you're saying the time.

9:00 on the plate.

Nine o'clock.

So that goes along with the consistency of where the light's coming from, which is from the left.

I like that little green, I'm going to put more of the green into that and then this will be just a little kind of little rim around there.

Can you see?

I hope my hand's not blocking too much.

We'll go up here, this again is just the inside.

I want to make sure it's not quite as light as the outside.

Now let's take on the birdie.

Let's see, what should we give you?

Let's give you a little green.

A little green, a little Raw Sienna.

So often, when I put on colors like this it's with the thought that once I have it on, then I can take a paper towel and just make a combination of paint showing through paint.

I really like that little guy, because he kinda relates with this one.

So you have a composition going this way, the apple blossoms over to the shakers.

You have the apple blossoms going in there.

Then you have the curve of the bird coming to the curve there, so it's quite pleasing.

Let's take just a little color.

We'll take some orange, cadmium orange and I believe that will work with maybe just a touch of white and you know I had on the brush just a little green, so I'm going to add a little green to make sure I have that too.

It softens the orange just slightly, so this is going to come up here and you can see how that, we start getting some impact into the plate, the center of the plate.

We'll put a little bit of this on this side so you know the plate continues there then just a small, small amount here.

Plate continues there and just a little bit over here at 3:00 slightly on that edge.

I'll take a fan brush, and I'm gonna push this around just a little bit and you notice how I scrub it like that; very dry brush.

Come down close to the bird.

Come close to my shakers.

[soft scraping] And what I sometimes will do too, let's take this.

This is sometimes.

This is the orange and white, just a little bit of yellow and I'll tap this, pick up a little green too.

Rush back and forth.

And just kinda tap so it gives a little pounded copper look.

[soft tapping] See the vitality difference when you do it that way?

I'll be careful of your legs.

But I can see them and we'll put some light on them.

That makes a great contrast and then it's always that oh, just a little yellow and white!

I don't know if I want to do this!

It might be different than the original!

Okay, now I'll take and outline that birdie and we'll take our orange, yellow and white.

This should show up just a little stronger than what we have there.

It do, it does!

Then we may have to put just a little touch inside the bird too, so it isn't quite all so solid.

Small, small amount, this is yellow and white, maybe a touch of oil with it so it comes freely for us.

Now you again, you're just a little legs down there and over in here and just a little bit of a claw.

Isn't it marvelous with the HD?

Oh, the high definition, you can see closeups.

You can see every feather.

Then just a little bit of an eye.

I want to put a little light inside there first, before we do the eye.

Let's just kinda push this around and when I push this around, what's left becomes the eye.

Did you see that?

Just a little bit inside here.

It will just soften that whole area a little bit.

Just outside there so it's not too dark near the thigh.

I want to have just a little dark this is Viridian Green.

We'll put it just on the bottom of the beak, so you can see that just a little more clearly.

All right, let's go down to the other vase and we'll have.. "The other vase?"

To the vase.

So we'll have more time on that later, but let's take.

This is, what are you?

Dioxazine Purple.

Oo is that a nice color!

It's very dark.

I'll do this again like a glaze.

We're very dark down below on purpose.

Then we'll be able to wipe a little bit here and there as we need to see through it.

I can see this, I don't know if you can.

I'm sure you can.

There I leave just a little more of an edge there.

We'll put a reflective light on so you won't have the problem of the dark background meeting the dark of the vase.

Now, here I I'm going across those little leaves and I'm going across the feathers until we can come with a paper towel and just kind of glaze, wipe the glaze slightly.

See?

I can see just a little bit of those.

Now we'll work into those.

We'll certainly work into those and across where the feathers are too.

See I can now see them just a little bit more.

We'll come up here with the Dioxazine Purple.

It certainly does the job.

A little bit in there.

And then here, I'll go very, very carefully.

Look how as it thins out it has over the yellow, it almost has a reddish tint, doesn't it?

Kind of like alizarin crimson.

Go over the trunk of the tree a little bit.

I won't touch the birdie with this color.

At least on purpose I won't.

Now, I'll take a paper towel, even though I didn't put any paint in the highlight area, I'll take some of this and it will take it'll pick up just a little paint so that when I move in there, it tones that slightly.

We have gotten a great start on today's project and we have next time to do the finishing touches, the refinement.

Won't that be great?

Just a little bit up there too.

I can still see my highlights.

On the birdie, I'll sort of stay off him this time, then next time we'll finish him up good.

As we kind of finish up, I'm just looking at around certain places and I'm using the paper towel in the plate, kind of blending.

It removes a little bit.

You just working with the thought of, I want quality.

You can have a little bit of this that kind of pushes up.

This is some of the darker tone, just so it tints down through the middle of that plate slightly.

You want to feel like its been used a while.

And as I told you earlier, what I will do, I will do this offstage but it'll be just like this one.

I'll leave the top of it to show you when we come back-- next week!

All right, let's see.

We have that, that.

We got a little time, so let's do this, rather than do the shaker, I will take some Viridian Green and white, that looks like equal parts.

We'll take some Burnt Umber... and just a little Yellow Ochre.

And hold it up, I'm holding it up to where it's going to go.

That could have a little more Yellow Ochre for a little more golden tone.

So we'll go ahead and start putting this on the table.

It'll be much easier to place on the apple blossoms with having this already there.

This will go there, and I'm spotting the places that I want it to be.

What happens when you have like when you have this shadow, you want to be sure that it's soft on this side and then it's a little bit sharper at the point of contact, this side.

Now on the far side, you're also going to soften that, so this one is soft on both sides.

That is truly a bridge up to the objects on the right side.

This has been great.

I just absolutely love doing this, and I feel it's been a work in progress.

You've seen it happen while I'm seeing it happen.

Here I took just a little umber and extra green so that when we get over on this side, it's not quite as light as it is to the left.

So we have done stage two on "Apple Blossoms" and we'll be back next week and we'll put the work on the flowers on the blossoms and on the birdie, we'll just check a little bit for refinement.

So we certainly want you to come back and see the finished picture.

It should look good in each stage, but the final one is the one that says yes, it was worth the time doing it right and doing it well.

This one needs to come so it goes right in line there.

So thank you for watching!

We've covered it all, but we have more to do.

So we'll see you next week, okay?

Thank you for watching.

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