Stocks in the Silver Coffee Pot

It’s been a while since my last post as I was unfortunately struck down by a summer bug which has taken a few weeks to get over. I’ve slowly been getting back to normal and started back at the easel with this little painting of stocks in a silver coffee pot. It’s a funny little pot of quite a pleasing shape, but with an oddly unsymmetrical dumpy bottom which makes it look slightly like it’s trying to sit down.

I find I’m experimenting quite a bit at the moment with how I apply paint, as well as trying out supports of various degrees of absorbency to see what feels most natural. The gessoed card I painted this on was quite slippy, as I toned it with warm grey rubbed in with a varnish rich medium to seal it. However, it wasn’t as slippy as the incredibly smooth gessoed panels that I have also been working with lately. I am finding those very difficult to control and need a lot more practice to really get to grips with how I can get the best out of them.

Anyway, I kept this painting quite loose, trying to get a sense of atmosphere and texture in the background and shadow. I was very conscious of trying to lose the edges on the pot in a naturalistic way. In life I couldn’t see a defined outside edge, so I didn’t want to describe something that wasn’t there. However, I didn’t want the edges to appear too indistinct, soft, or mannered. Finding the correct balance is the challenge.