6/2011:__________________________________________________________

Shaun sets up his still life elements for reference, which the painting is based. The shape of the objects inspired Shaun to develop a more romantic setting through color.

Shaun first picks out a nice size of canvas for this still life painting. He chooses a 24" x 36" standard size canvas that would be easy to frame. He begins by loosely sketching out the arrangement of the desired scene.

Shaun masked out the main object with masking tape to maintain their shapes, isolate and to protect their sharp edges. He brushes in the background colors to form the blue sky and the surrounding yellow fill. Dark brown was lightly dabbed across the top corner to create a wall texture. A dry brush technique is used to form the wooden base on the lower section of the canvas. Painting the bottom quarter section of the painting solid brown as a dry brush is dragged across pulling the wet paint up to form the wood grain as the yellow base color is revealed.

A burgundy color is blocked in for the wine half filled glass, bottle and the top of the bottle. He mixes the same blue and yellow together to create the olive green color of the bottle.

Shaun uses a small liner brush to add color and texture to the stem of the wine glass. You can also see a part of a plant taped up to the side as reference to create a hanging plant in the background.

The painting starts to come alive as the glowing candle takes form as the centerpiece of the still life. White is used to outline the top of the glass to add the appearance of a clear clean glass. Grapes are blocked in to add contrast to the background.

Highlights are added to the grapes and reflection into the glass. Shaun begins to brush in the color and shadows into the corkscrew to bring out the form.

High contrast colors to add depth and detail is painted to create the shiny surface of the corkscrew as it emerges. A light color tan is used for the cork as the liner brush adds grain texture. The painting is starting to come together.

Black is mixed in with the blue to dull down the vibrant color of the sky as it gradates. Some white is mixed in with the bright blue color to add some subtle waves in the lower part of the blue section.

The plant is painted back in to bring it back out from the dark sky color. The painting is complete as the highlight on the wine glass is reinforced.