In my last session, I assembled a new easel, balanced my lamps, and started mixing colors. My old easel was broken so Gage gave me a new Blick Studio Medium-Duty H-Frame Easel. This is a really nice easel for $89 and it even comes with the screwdrivers needed for the assembly. All of the components were well packed and well marked and the instructions were reasonably clear. One nice thing about this easel is that the carriage tray can be positioned anywhere from a few inches off the ground to five feet up. The high position is useful when working on really small pieces, like this 6″ x 8″ study, which I wanted at eye level.

Gary dropped by the studio after his perspective lecture and caught me with a tiny synthetic brush and told me to go back to the #6 bristle. He was right and I almost want to do another quick study with just the #6.

This string of reds for the apple included a tint of Daniel Smith Permanent Red, various combinations Permanent Red and Alizarin Crimson, and finally combinations of Alizarin Crimson with Burnt Umber. I liked everything but the tint (not shown), which looked like strawberry toothpaste.

At this stage, I’ve painted the two darkest reds and the two darkest neutrals.

All that remains for this study is the table top. After that, I’d like to revisit the colors in the apples and the pear and the metal bowl, either in this study or a new one.