Week 18: Vase of Flowers by Jan Davidsz de Heem

{week 18: end of day comparison}

Today I was back at the gallery, happy to be inside on a damp, gray, and cold day.

One of the perks of painting in the NGA is that in order to preserve and protect the valuable art the building is kept year round at 72 degrees F with a 50% relative humidity. This prevents the shrinking and expansion that will usually occur under the typical atmospheric changes that occur season to seaon, day to day. So I was more cozy and comfortable than usual.

{week 18: beginning of day}

The focus for today was to work on the red poppy at the bottom right hand corner. I wanted to get it blocked in, establishing the outside edges and proportions of the flower in relation to the bottle and the table top.

{week 18: status at lunch time}

Here is a detail from around the middle of the day and I realize that I did not get a close up shot of this area at the end of the day. Oops! My brain was pretty shot after focusing for so many hours on the minute detail of the petal edges... Next week I will definitely get a close up to share with you.

The painting I am copying has a new neighbor in gallery 50, Franz Snyders Still Life with Grapes and Game.

{here is a close up of the still life}

This is a beautiful and large still life, and it is tempting me to copy it! Now that I am more than half way finished with the Vase of Flowers I have been pondering what will be the next painting to copy. With so many to choose from it is hard to narrow down the choices...