I shall be attempting this reference for my weekend project.... though I shall in all probability lighten it a little.

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I am undecided as to which colour medium to use though - either coloured pencils or soft pastels.

There are a number of pros and cons for both media of course. Soft pastels lay down quicker and the colours are generally more brilliant. Coloured pencils are more controlled and are capable of greater detail. Also they are relatively less messy than pastels... I say relatively because with all the pencil shavings I end up with the tidiness issue is really very relative!

So what's your two cents... or should I toss a coin once I've used the metaphor!!

Ok... while you think about it I go do the line drawing.....

Very nice! I personally love your pastel work, and think this would turn out very dramatic!

I wouldn't lighten it very much; keep the bold contrast. I would however want to find a few more middle values.

TIP: Make your own dark values by mixing colors. Black pastels are deadly!

Brenda

Thank you Brenda.

My original choice was indeed for pastels ... and this is doable since a fourth of the precious 36 pastel sticks I own are green!! I then got cold feet to some extent because of the variegation on the eggplants - yes believe it or not those are eggplants.. Thai egglants - it seemed like a lot of detail to ask from the clumsy sticks.

As for the black.... you are so right. I think the mixture of dark raw umber and black I used in my last piece worked pretty well... I can see the raw umber, yellow ochre and olive green building up very nicely in the background.

Hmmm... so you think I can pull it off with the pastels?!

I totally agree with Brenda. I once did a black horse, and thought I would experiment. I used ultamarine blue and alizarin crimson and made a dark purble and it worked beautifully.

The only time I use a small dab of pure black, when working in any media, is for a tiny section of the pupils of eyes in a portrait.

I tend to mix all my blacks by combining dark values of the primary colors. The dominant color in the black mix is usually the complement of the colors in the subject. For example, if I want to enhance a red vase, the "black" background has a lot of green (blue+yellow). If I want the vase to meld with the background, I use more red than green. The best way to learn how colors affect one another is to experiment.

Brenda

Rose, this looks like a good opportunity to try mixed media since you are in a quandry as to which media to use. You are proficient in both....

BTW, I also downloaded that picture for a later date..........it is a very striking picture.

Thanks Bob, Brenda, Joanie. I have my colour wheel on hand and I'm experimenting.

Joanie: I think I'm still a little chicken about mixing media! It is a striking picture isn't it. I just so love the drama of contrasts.

BTW - I think I'm going to try something I wouldn't have thought of if I hadn't read that someone had used it. I'm going to try this on Stonehenge since apparently it takes pastels very well.

As a Brit, i have to take exception with you drawing all over Stonehenge! lol.....
That picture would definitely look good in pastels.
That would be my suggestion, i was going to wish you luck then but i know you wont need it.
I may if you don't mind save it on my computer for a go at it in watercolour (when i get the chance!).

look forward to your art,

RJS

Thank you RJS. And by all means save it. It isn't even my picture. I got from the Wetcanvas reference library.

So what's that? You don't accept graffiti on Stonehenge?!!

I like the picture as is .. and I think it will be very cool to see what everyone comes up with ...you are all such good artist .

This is just me personally, but I would prime a wood panel and sand it very smooth. Then I would layer it with thin layers of oil paint. But from the way you talked you may not want to go to this much time and work.

Forget it man!!!

RJS: Your Stonehenge is safe! I talked to the person who said they used Stonehenge and she said her paper was fawn. Mine is white so I really don't know if we were talking about the same thing. Anyway I gave up on the Stonehenge. It does indeed take the pastels well however it does not erase well at all so it became quite impossible to get the clean edges I was looking for. I imagine it would be really good for pastel pencils but I don't have those as yet.

This is more or less how it's looking so far. I say more or less because the colours are not exactly what they are in reality. Immediately I downloaded my picture of it I noticed the need of some adjustments but those are easily handled. Overall I think it's working.

I wonder what you all think.

Rose, so far it looks great. I think the background needs to be a little darker but I know you aren't done with it yet. To me and I could be wrong because I am far from a critiquer the shading on the vase is to dark for what you have the background if that makes sense. I have no doubt it will be beautiful when finished though. Here is a photo I got off of wetcanvas I want to attemp really soon, an inspiration from seeing the lovely still lifes you have been doing. I love the color pink so I thought this was perfect!!

That is a really great reference Venus. It will make a lovely painting.

This is what I have so far.

I think it's done.

The photo I took of it seems the be darker to the right. In actual fact the light/shade is more or less balanced.

This was challenging but fun!

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Rose, I see two things that you might think about. One the edge of the shadow on the vase might be a little too sharp. If you notice in the reference photo the shadow softens gradually. If you feel confident you might bring the midtone between the darkest area and the lightest.

Also, the vase seems to float. In the reference there is a dark shadow that separates the vase from it's reflection.

However,I wouldn't advise you to change anything unless you feel comfortable reworking the drawing.

Thank you Bob. What you suggested hardly needed reworking the painting.

Now I think it's really done. Again it's not the best of pictures to show the real colours but it's the best I can do at 10:00pm!

It's what you think that counts # One. I like the way you have interpreted the photo. I agree that it does have a finihsed look. It all depends on the effect you like. Other people can only tell you what they would do.

Rose I knew you could pull it off!! It looks absolutely stunning!! Pat yourself on the back, spray it and frame it up.

You say that the pencil shavings can make it just as messy as the pastels but that doesn't affect the drawing and isn't that what counts in the end?