Finally got some time to paint again. Did the front wheel of the dump truck and most of the warm reflections. Also added an orange running light.

This session I used two strings – a cool neutral for the chrome and a warm for the reflections. The cool string was based a mixture of Prussian Blue, Burnt Umber, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, and Cadmium Yellow Medium, lightened with Titanium White. The warm string consisted of varying amounts of Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red Medium, and Cadmium Yellow Medium, mixed into the neutral string.

For this painting I’ve mainly been using Da Vinci Top Acryl brights. These are fairly stiff synthetic brushes that hold a sharp, chiseled point. They work really well with the water miscible paints, especially when I need to use a brush full of solvent (in this case water) to sharpen up an edge. The brushes are also good for modulating the tone of lighter paints on a black canvas. Since they are really stiff, I can use them to scrub the paint to allow more of the black to show through when I need a darker tone.