This afternoon I happily spent the afternoon painting.  I finished on small still life (Glass Vase and Candle), worked on three other paintings, and also prepared two more small paintings.  In this post, I will show you the three WIP paintings.

Diana Portrait – WIP4
9″x12″ oil paint on canvas board
5 sessions

This layer I added very thin layers of color to the darkest and lightest parts of the skin shading, to add definition, depth, and detail. I also added another layer of white to the eyes, and roughly defined the hair line.

Project: Diana Portrait

Pentacle Candle and Apple – WIP2
3″x5″ oil paint on canvas board
Three sittings
Reference is my own photo

In this layer I brightened up the red of the apple, as well as brightening and better defining the white on the candle.

Project: Pentacle Candle and Apple

Samhain Candles – WIP2
11″x14″ oil paint on canvas board
Three sittings

I was very, very unhappy with the first attempt at the background color. Before painting it, I did not realize how BLUE the black paint I have actually is, so the first attempt turned out a very muddy cold color.

For this layer of the background I used white, yellow, and a dark brown paint. I did all the color mixing on the canvas. For the top part, I laid down the color rather thick to better hide the cold layer underneath. I didn’t mind the coolness on the bottom, so the layer there is much, much thinner, allowing the cold black to tint the shading.

I will probably be adding one more layer to the background to darken the outermost shading.

Project: Samhain Candles