You’re probably wondering what happened to my Wine and Apples painting. I didn’t finish it to my satisfaction, but Gary and I agreed that I had reached the point of diminishing returns on learning to paint.

With that we declared the painting finished! What a relief! I took the painting off the easel, struck the set and moved on to Limes and Lemons.

Here are a few take-aways from my first atelier painting:

1. The study and the underpainting seem to have more energy and personality than the finished painting.
2. The parts that went quickly, like the initial drawing, the underpainting, the apples, and the cloth, were more satisfying and more compelling.
3. Many of the passages where I struggled didn’t really contribute much to the success of the overall painting. Gary says these areas will improve as I get more experience.
4. From a learning perspective, it is better to create more paintings than to endlessly rework a single painting.

Here’s a recap of the stages of Wine and Apples:

The actors are on the stage.

Twenty minute value study in graphite, 3″ x 4″.

18″x24″ canvas with Indian Red Faber-Castell Pitt pen and vine charcoal.

18″x24″ under painting, burnt sienna on canvas.

The finished painting.