Well, it is virtually complete at this point. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the snow is shaded and the bird is complete. I did go back and make snow clump on the bottom a little smaller and I like it better now. I am sure I will change a few small things before I sign it. I have to "live" with it a while before I am sure I am done. I will post a couple close-ups of parts of the painting, and if I change it much, another full shot. Stay tuned.

Here I have laid the base for the finch. It is a female - and in the winter - so it can't have really bright yellow plumage that is associated with male finches in the summer. I have detailed the leaves a little more, but couldn't really hold of on starting the finch any longer! Also, I am not really liking the snow spot on the bottom, so I will probaby change that before I am through.

At this point, the basic parts of the leaves and berries are done. There are still plenty of veins and subtle shadows to add, but here is where you start to really see the painting come together. I have continued to build the leaves using multiple layers, then shadowed them with the darker green that I mixed with Payne's Gray. In the last post you still saw the masking where the berries would have the highlights. I paint the berries on then remove the masking. I chose to soften the highlights with a blending brush, but I could have left the edges of the highlight crisp to keep a sharper look with more light contrast. It is around this time in a painting when Mike comes home and says, "Did you paint today?" But I think it's worth the time and trouble and I can see the progress :). You can still see the snow and finch masked out and after finishing the details on the holly I will get started on those.

Here, all the highlights have been masked out and as you can see, I have started building up the layers of the leaves. I use several layers so that I can make the leaves "glow" more naturally. If you look at the center leaf, that is a good example of the first layer. The far left leaf is an example of the second stage. For the darker parts of the leaves I mix in a little Payne's Gray. The bluish gunk you see in this picture is just more masking of a different brand. You can see the little bits of masking where I will have highlights on the berries. Stay tuned!

This is the first phase of a new painting I am working on. I have masked out the foreground and put down the basic background elements. Also, I have added a few "medium" ground leaves in to help create depth. Next I will be working out the highlights and mixing up the colors for the foreground. I will post more as I progress, so stay tuned.

The 2006 schedule will be posted soon. We don't get commitments this earlier in the year so we don't have anything to post as of yet. And, the schedule is constantly changing throughout the year so keep checking back!

For those that had planned to come by the "Not Just Shopping" event at the Independence Center in Charlotte for November 29th, please note that I have dropped that event from my schedule. However, look for at least one more date in Charlotte for early December.