Chiaroscuro

 This is a little demonstration of how I approached painting a ''chiaroscuro'' style still life using some of the tips I got from my book Oil Painting Secrets From a Master .

I first used a mix of Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue to block-in the objects and roughly get a value for the tabletop. Blocking-in is much more effective than drawing because it makes you see in terms of masses rather than linearly (it also makes you save time). I have nothing against laying down a drawing. I used to do it myself but since I started to block-in masses instead, I saw a lot of improvement in my paintings.

Another thing I used to do that was holding me back was to paint one object at the time. That way, it's very difficult to control the values of the whole painting. Here instead, I painted from dark to light. I've put down all my shadows and cast shadows at once so I could judge them better. I painted the grapes from darkest (left) to lightest (right) because I wanted the light to come out of the shadows and lead the eye to the focal point (the white pot).

The next step was to paint my background with a lighter dark than the shadow side of the objects but to keep them at a close value. That way the shadows almost get lost in the background and it accentuates the lights. Once the background value was established, I've put down the color and light of every objects before getting in the details. At that point, I also like to put a highlight to give myslef a sense of the finished painting right away (it can be modified later).

At that point, the painting was pretty much done. All I had to do was to finish the objects and work a little bit of details and adjustments (temperature, value, edges, light effects etc...). I've put the strongest highlights on the pot and the strongest reflections underneath it because I wanted it to be the center of interest and leave the fruits as secondary objects (even though the lime looks like it wants to steal the show).

If you enjoyed this demonstration, I suggest you check out Linda Cateura's book in wich she shares some great notes from David A. Leffel's classes. It really changed the way I approach painting and is helping me to see and think like a painter. Thanks for stopping by!

Click here to buy the painting: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/424683