Shackleford Shell No. 2, Grey Whelk

 Finished Product!! This is another painting of a shell (Whelk) from Shackleford Banks - Beaufort NC. This one was posed in my shadow box sitting on a satin like fabric. It is my understanding that these type of whelk shells are only found in south eastern US. This beauty was found by my grandson which he has lent me to paint. I love painting the curvy lines and knobby details. Thanks for taking a look!

Using my regular method,  I first sketched in the shell and fabric folds   and then painted in the dark and light values creating a grisaille .  This time I did not create as strong  an under-painting and it seemed to work out better. Grisaille colors used:  burnt umber, yellow ochre and quinacridone burnt orange. 

Here I darkened areas up just a little bit more and lightened areas up using  Titanium White.

A bit of color was added in to this stage.  I was trying to define a little more the light goldy like yellow (here the under-painting helped with this) colors to the folds of fabric in the top and more bluish highlights on the bottom of the painting.  Colors mostly used: Anthraquinone blue, dioxazine purple, paynes gray, yellow ochre, burnt umber, naples yellow, quincridone red, cadmium orange titanium buff and titanium white (Ihope I remembered them all).

The last stage in which I tightened up and defined the strong lines in the shells and as always darkened up the darks and lightened up the lights for a bit more contrast.

If interested in puchasing this painting or other paintings here is the  link   http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/belinda-scheber-5923/artwork

Shackleford Shells No. 1

Shackleford Shells No. 1

This is the finished product.  This is quite a departure from my other work as I am now using a shadow box built for me by my husband.  It is a great setup for doing still lifes.  This is it:

Shadowbox made from PVC pipe and hardboard.

I start most of my painting with a simple sketch and begin to paint in an under-painting  of burnt umber and quincridone burnt orange.  This procedure enables me to locate the darks and lights.  The under-painting colors  allows the painting to have more definition and clarity (or m ore punch) for the final painting.

This is my final value study  (locate darks and lights).

Here I am adding color.  I decided that my under-painting was a bit bright and I started taking it down with white and other lighter colors.

Amost completed painting.  This is a good look at the effects of toning the colors down a bit.  

Final Product.  Thanks for looking at my blog!

Plumful no.2

Just finished Plumful no. 2

This is another study of the same plums as before but sitting on another surface - a dark blackish-blue granite counter.  The light was coming in from two different sources which provided many challenges and an interesting painting.  I hope you like it.  Thanks for taking a look!  Below are the different stages of  "Plumful No. 2".

"Plumful No. 2"  the finished product and will go for sale on Daily PaintWorks tomorrow!

This is the first stage of how I usually work - painting a grisaille on a gessoed panel!  This helps me to define the values of the painting (the lights and darks)  I used a mixture of burnt umber and a little quinacridone burnt orange (try spelling this one on your own without looking it up - of course I had to look up).  Applying an under-painting gives the painting a little punch in the end!  This is my favorite stage as it goes real fast and is fun!!

Here, I am adding  the lights and darks  with color. 

Starting to refine the color even more.

Final Product! Even though the painting doesn't quite look centered - I did it on purpose to allow a view of the reflection on the granite counter top.  If you are reading this, thank you so much for looking at my artwork and blog.  God Bless!