Vase of Purple and White Freesia (Oil Bar Painting Day 12)

Vase of Purple and White Freesia (Oil Bar Painting Day 12) Originally uploaded by randubnick

This morning, I went back to the studio at Red Brick to work on this painting. The original flowers I was working from are long gone, although I did put a fresh bunch of freesia in that vase for Open Studios. The red tablecloth is gone as well. But when I began this painting, I took a reference photo of the still life arrangement. So this morning before I left for the studio, I printed out a copy of the photo to take along. I taped the reference photo up on the wall, and it was helpful to have it. During the hour I had to work, I concentrated on the red tablecloth. I am trying to give it more of a pink cast (as in the photo), and to create a sense of the light coming in from the windows (on both sides.) I also want to give a sense of the folds in the tablecloth. Although I wasn't trying to replicate the tablecloth exactly (I needed to make some changes for the sake of the composition), looking at the photo helped me put highlights and shadows down on the canvas with more confidence.