Cafe Tray, 20 x 16
The still life above was the assignment we began in last Wednesday's class and showed for critique in this morning's, the final session of Laurel's alla prima class. In this assignment, as in the previous one, we used a blocking-in technique used by Kevin McPherson. My post of February 9th (first of two posted that day) explains the process in detail, which I like very much. I find that this method of identifying and applying the correct average color, along with the correct values, to the main shapes at the block-in stage saves a step by not having to go back and paint color into the different neutrals of a previously painted monochromatic block-in. A key, I find, is to make sure you don't sacrifice the true values of the color masses (especially the darks) when blocking in with color.
