Part of my mission as a painter is to search for the beauty in the commonplace and ordinary. This simple scene had a beautiful cool light resulting in warm and cosy shadows that fit the subject perfectly. And it invites you to take part in it, so please have a seat!

Simple and rustic or not, I did preliminary studies. A series of notans (shown larger here, they really are tumbnail size), to find out where to place the darkest darks:


The last one is closest to what I did in the actual painting.

Then I made a quick sketch that took just one hour, to see how it all worked in colour. (Number 1 below.) Number 2 shows the blocking in of the masses, on the sanded paper Fisher 400. I've chosen colours that in some cases are complementary, as I wanted the wall and the table to be 'quiet' and not loud.

In 3 the colours are nearing what they will eventualy become, and 4 shows the painting nearly done, but still needing work and development of details. The cupboard within the wall will get some trimmings, and some things will be pushed darker, and others lighter.

I swear the chair with all its negative spaces took as long to paint as the rest of the picture!

The finished painting can be viewed as a larger image by clicking this link that will take you to my website.