Presidents and Tomatoes

Good painting morning, so I thought I'd upload two that are on the easel so you can see the progress. First, the tomatoes. This week I added the place for the lettering (on the left side of the book cover (the book title is like the place in a church where they post they hymn numbers) and refined the tomato surfaces and plate edge. When it's drier I'll work on the balsamic label and intensify the salt and pepper. The author's name goes in big letters across the top. I'm thinking about putting my name on the balsamic label.


And this is what I was just working on - a lunch I had at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. This is really early in the painting - I don't even have all the white of the canvas covered yet - but you can see where it's going. Today I added the red caran d'ache pencil and it really pops. I'll wait until I've got one layer of paint on everything before I decide whether to dull it. Gave the sketchbook another layer of blues, filled in the fork and the salt and pepper. Yesterday I started the pasta. The spaces have olives and sun-dried tomatoes in them, dark rich colors, so I'll wait for the pasta to dry before I go in again there. Maybe work on George's face next or the glass reflectins. I've got another chair to add behind the table, and am thinking about dimming the tile floor with several layers of glazes.