This was a day that started at 12pm and ended at 6pm, so not an entire working day, but close to one. I spent the earlier part of the day mixing paint and then discarding the paint mixes. Some skills need constant work, and I had been away from the canvas for too long to recall what would work best with what. After creating some fantastic grey-greens, I discarded them. The original drapery from the photograph is a pale desaturated green, but I don’t need to follow that, and I also don’t need to make that decision now. What I elected to do was paint it completely in grey. I can go over that with a translucent colour in the future, and add whatever colour I want. For the moment, I will not let it slow me down, and the form of the drapery will still appear. I might go with partially grey drapery, as if one bit of cloth were white, if I decide it looks good that way. Meanwhile, I’m moving on. I still have a lot to do on this.

I need to do the copper, the overcolour on all the drapery (some is red, some is still undecided), the pinholes in the grey background, and many other small things, as well as completing each area, which is faster painting but also difficult to do. The roses used to be the most complete part, but now look unfinished compared to the solidity of the leaves, for example. In most cases this will just be a skim layer, and it’s helped that the colour decisions are already made, and recorded. Once I’ve done the copper and the brass watch, it’s the home straight.