I have added more colour to the bowl using indigo, burnt umber, chrome yellow and alizarin crimson. Some of these colours are not discernible, but affect the colour temperature non-the-less. There will be a couple of highlights added when the paint is dry, but I am happy with it at present.

In the rest of the painting, I have added the underpainting to the large floor area on the bottom right of the composition. This is a polished concrete floor with shadows and reflections to be added at a later stage.

The beginnings of a stainless steel bowl under the bench is today's focus. Not too much detail at this stage. I shall work further on it later but couldn't resist adding an 'object' to the initial stages of the work. The colour of the bench support pipes is also an under paint, as the final colour will not be such a pronounced blue shade.

The shapes that I have blocked in today are some of the negative spaces. They are dark and, therefore, become background, forcing the positive shapes forward. They will be changed in tone with highlights and shadows added as the painting progresses, but it gives me a feeling for the whole 'picture' of the work as I go. I will alter the shape of objects too ,at a later stage, to make them more accurate in perspective and size.

I am blocking in some of the larger background areas. The colour and tone is not as it will be, but is applied as a form of underpainting so that, when I add details and other tones/colours, there will be a uniformity to the effect. I may not get a chance to paint tomorrow as a family commitment will take precedence.

It may seem to many who may be following my progress with this work that I am adding very little to the painting in each session. This is true! I am only spending a little less than an hour each day on the work with actual painting. When I start a new painting that presents a challenge to me, I start slowly, I suppose anxious not to make an error. I know that errors can be corrected when using oil paints, but this is only my fourth serious oil painting and I am more used to using watercolour which does not always easily lend itself to correction.  I also spend a considerable time thinking about the work and making plans with regard to tonal/colour composition.

A little more blocking in of the ceiling with the extractor hoods. There will be details added to reflections superimposed on top at a later stage. I tend to paint the flat geometrical shapes first when I start a new painting, as it is 'safe' and helps me get a feel for the whole picture.

Thank you to all who have been viewing my blog, even though I have not made a post for a few weeks. Christmas and New Year have been very busy with family and visiting family from England along with my efforts to complete a bathroom upgrade in time for their visit. ( I may add that I was unsuccessful in this target and it is still in progress, though in hiatus!)
I have finally begun to block in some of the interior architecture of my oil painting of a cooking school. Very early days, but at least I have made a start. I have been a little apprehensive of beginning this work, I'm not sure why, but I do find the first brush strokes the hardest in any painting I undertake. I have an image of the completed painting in my mind and I am always a little afraid that it will not meet my expectations. But! t

he journey has begun!