Week 2: Vase of Flowers by Jan Davidsz de Heem

For the past week I have been busy preparing for the upcoming Suffolk show {more to come after I deliver the paintings to the gallery} and then before I realized it Monday was upon me and it was time to return to the National Gallery of Art (NGA).

{at the end of the day}

Between last week and this week I thought about what method would be best to use when copying the painting, finally I realized that using a medium to thin the paint and to apply layer upon layer of paint to resemble what de Heem created in the original painting. For this week I really focused on the lower portion of the painting, trying to capture the affect of the marble table, and refining some proportions of the glass vase. I made the decision to paint the entire table surface and then to later paint on top of this with the details of the pea pods and such. I used a medium of linseed oil with a few drops of damar varnish and a #2 filbert bristle brush and sometimes a #2 sable filbert brush. During the day it became clear that next week I will need to bring a maul stick to stabilize my hand.

This painting is full of detail -- insects, thorns, and subtle highlights -- it will be a pleasure seeing how this experience unfolds...

{detail of the de Heem painting}

Thanks for stopping by and reading,

Liz