Afternoon Tea

30 x 22" Watercolor
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How This was Painted; it's a long story!

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Photo Reference for Afternoon Tea

I set up hundreds of still life possibilities, and finally decided to start this one. 

Little did I know, until I began the actual painting process, and had been at it for several weeks; did I realize how extensive this one would be. "Why?" I asked myself! "Why did I start this!?" 

I can honestly say this process has been a love/hate relationship for nearly a year! 

But love wins out in the end! 

While painting this, the name began to form in my mind. 

The painting process in "Afternoon Tea" was greatly enhanced by daily enjoying the series from Brit Box: "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (starring Jeremy Brett), wherein many scenes involved tea being served in delicate porcelain cups such as you see in the reference photo.  Follow along below, as I recount the steps in this very involved still life.

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THE BEGINNING!

This was the easiest part! 

I used a lot of negative painting to begin the lace. 

As much as possible, I saved the white of the paper. 

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As the painting sessions progressed, 

I was greatly challenged by the textures of the brocade! 

I used the wax of a candle to create a bumpy like texture, as well as a sponge. 

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Above, the painting and the reference photo can be compared.

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In this image, the lace has been 

painted with much care and attention to detail. 

Still, at this point, I am using negative painting to achieve the look of lace.

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BREAKING WITH TRADITION

In this image, one can see the addition of gold glitter! 

I've never done this on a watercolor painting, 

but the brocade seemed to demand that I pull out all the stops!

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MORE LACE

Still more lace work was done at this point, 

with the addition of opaque white. 

A little bit was also done on the flowers and the green stems.

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TEXTURED BROCADE

I began in this session to work on the foreground brocade.

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PHOTO REFERENCE ON LEFT --- PAINTING ON RIGHT

At this point, I zeroed in on the cup. 

SO much detail in this painting!

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MOVING ON - MORE DETAILS - MORE LACE WORK!

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COMPARISONS

The circled areas were of concern.

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CONCERNING AREAS ADDRESSED

Basically, many details were worked on!

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COMPARING THE PHOTO TO THE PAINTING

How many changes can you see?

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NUMBER ONE

How many changes do 

you see between #1 and #2 and #3???

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NUMBER TWO

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NUMBER THREE

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PLEASED WITH PROGRESS!

Overall, I am pleased, but I still see that 

much needs to be addressed!

Can you name 5 places that need some attention?

What would you do?

Please add your comments below!

I'd love to hear what you think

SO FAR!!

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On and On and On!!!

At this point, I brought a photo of the painting

into an app I have on my larger iPad.

I wanted to see how some darker brown areas would 

affect the flower heads.

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I was pleased, but first I needed to lighten the flowers;

so I used some Mister Clean scrubbers and scrubbed away!

To do that, I first applied a Masking Film to the painting,

traced around the flowers, and removed the film.

After removing the film from the painting,

I took that to a cutting mat and used an X-Acto knife

to remove the flower head areas.

Then I replaced the film onto the painting, and

began scrubbing away the paint.

I did this to revive the white of the paper.

I had used some white opaque paint to lighten the pink; 

but that did not work. White actually dulled the pink.

So removal was the only answer.

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Finally, all that pink paint was removed!

I also removed some of the green on the stems.

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After it had dried (hours!), I began to

re-apply pink. I broke a lot of my own

rules in this painting. I had been opposed to

using Opera for many years; but, in 

this instance, the use of fugitive Opera

was necessary. After many years, this 

color will darken to a dull brown, but

I bet I won't be around when that happens!

I was willing to take that chance!

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After the Opera layer dried, I used some Magenta to

form the shapes of the petals, and put some Cadmium Yellow

into the centers of the flowers. I also added a 

bit of Quinacridone Sienna around the

flower heads (on the brocade area).

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For the final touches, I blended out the Sienna with

some Quinacridone Gold, to go from dark

shadows to the gold of the brocade on the 

outer edges of the left side of the painting.

I also added a bit of Quinacridone Gold to 

Bleed Proof White to give the large 

teapot a more creamy color;

and I added a few more bits of lace 

near the bottom of the painting.

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I do hope you have enjoyed this year's long

journey with me!

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Please leave your comments below!!

Thanks for following along!

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Donna