This is the first layer of a redone flower and can. This painting has no white in it (the white you see is just the canvas). It was done only with a marble dust putty made with linseed oil. The tint is a mixture of permanent rose, manganese blue and indian yellow which I mixed into the putty. It is in essence a value study which I did, recomposed based on Tad’s comments to me about the first trial I made. Here are his comments to me about that first effort, shown below::

“I think it’s fine to start, a good image to learn about three colors and light from. You have great darks in the can in the set-up, they need to come into play. The can might well get bigger, to the left and down, the foreground shadow mass of the flowers is darker than the background, and comes further into the lower left corner, that would help. The background is darker in the upper left; this actually helps the composition, forms a subliminal diagonal that balances the shadow motion on the table. A very nice composition, edgy, but not too uncomfortable. Remember to make the flowers anything but white until the end. This will help. Keep the titanium cut with putty so you have to make the shifts with color rather than value. You might try a color of yellow that is a little more neutral for the next layer, mix the indian yellow with something cooler maybe. “

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