Process: Canadian Syrup

As promised I'd like to share with everyone my 'process.' A painting from start to finish. What I tried to do was either to take a picture every day take a picture when something was accomplished. I did, however, miss a few days near the end in the excitement of finishing up the painting.

First, I start with a pencil drawing. There are many ways to approach a painting. A generally accepted way (and the way I was initially taught) is to tone the panel/canvas with a neutral color like brown, or sometimes green (or whatever works) and then with a small brush paint in the base drawing for the foundation of the painting. I found that process kind of limiting and somewhat frustrating as it worked against my tendency for precise lines (that I can achieve much better with a pencil).



After that, I block in basic colors and tones, not worrying too much about brushstrokes or the color being just right. It takes a lot of layers (and patience) to build up that perfect tone.




Continuing to build up tones and layers in the background:



Almost done with the background, now starting to build color and tones in the bottle while leaving bright whites and highlights the white of the panel.



As I mentioned before, it slipped my mind to document the steps between the last photo and this one, but what I did was finish the bottle to the best resolution and take into account the changes that made to the overall piece. I decided to warm up the background to complement the amber color of the syrup. Also putting in some fine detail using a tiny brush and a lot of patience to delicately lay in the fine details and sharp shapes that glass, foil, and paper all make to finish the piece off.


Next time I make a process blog I promise to stay on top of my photo documentation!
Also, I hope this was at least mildly interesting...
Thanks for looking!