Metalica - Part 2

Metalica
by Jane McElvany Coonce

So here is the finished product, "Metalica", but I will continue on with how I ended up with this painting and the steps it took to get there.

After the first day, the painting was very wet.  To speed the drying time, I put it in front of a heat lamp overnight.  This made the paint dry so that I could continue working on it.  If it were still wet, it would be hard to get my lights on there without blending in with the first coat.

So the 2nd day, I have a dry painting and I begin to put on thicker paint.

Step 4 : I started with the top half and began to develop the plate, the metal cups and pitcher,the apple and the yellow bird pitcher with the stick candy in it.  Notice I paint the stick candy in solidly without stripes.  This is so I get the form of the sticks and make them look 3 dimensional.  The stripes will be added later.  I also block in a background with thicker paint, but I will come back to the background later.  All of this work takes the whole 2nd day.  Again, I take the painting home and put it in front of the heat lamp so that it will be dry the next day.

Day 3:  I focus on the bottom half of the painting (the table cloth) and refine the whole painting.

Step 5:  This time I focus on the cloth.  I work out the folds (the light areas and the dark areas of the cloth.)  At the same time, I add the pattern on the cloth.  The pattern of the cloth repeats the colors of the metal cups and pitcher.  I also to back and refine the upper half.  I put the stripes on the stick candy and add the little hard candies on the table top.  I go back and refine the yellow bird pitcher, adding some of the orange reflected light on the side of the bird.  I also play up the reflections in the metal pitcher and the silver plate.  I add the highlights to each of the items to make them sparkle and shine.  I work on the "portrait" in the plate, but keep it blurred since it's not really the focal point.  I add a little more thick paint to the background, throwing in a few colors from the cloth and the plate to repeat the colors that are throughout the painting.

It's a wild painting, but fun to do.  After 3 days, I'm finished and exhausted.  All that is left to do is sign it.  I usually wait until the painting is dry before I sign it.  That way, if I mess up the signature, I can wipe it and do it again without affecting the paint underneath.

Step 5 

Step # 4