Paintings \ Wine and Oranges

Oil painting - "Wine and Oranges," December, 2003

It's not easy or comfortable to paint outside during the winter, so when my painting teacher, Ty Hodanish, called me one day to suggest a series of indoor evening workshops, I jumped at the chance. He had also invited along another local artist, Dani Antman. Dani, who has had a long career as an illustrator, is also very interested in expanding her boundaries. She had experimented with an underpainting technique that Ty anbd I both wanted to try. This painting is the first result of that new technique.
I first painted the entire scene using an undertone, if you will, of rubine red acrylic. This was applied in thin glazes. Once the acrylic undercoat had dried, I went back with oils and completed the picture. I like the results. Now I don't have to be unproductive during bad weather... I can work inside, assuming the lighting is adequate. I've done several other pictures using this underpainting techique. Here's one -- and here's another.