Shine

I have a set of six of these beautiful cut glass (crystal?) goblets, in a variety of colors, handed down from Mom: kelly green, ultramarine blue, sunflower yellow, bright pink, purple, and this deep burgundy red one. I have pulled them out of my china cabinet more than once to paint, and then thought better of it and put them back, because I simply don't have the skill set or a discerning enough eye to capture the quality of the glass and make it sparkle. (I think I need another class with Paul Jackson.)

But I had what's left of a big bag of cherries that will spoil if not eaten (or painted) today, and the similarity in color between the cherries and this goblet struck me, so I staged a still life including both of them. I started about half an inch too high from the bottom margin when painting the cherries, so that the goblet didn't quite make it onto the page in its entirety; and the crystalline quality of the glass stem did indeed mostly escape me. But I like the variation on the bowl of the wine glass and its reflection in the cherries down below. I guess the only solution to getting the hang of painting something like this is to paint it over and over and try to figure out what it is that makes the light shine.

Wine glass and cherries

#30x30DirectWatercolor2019, #worldwatercolormonth

In the sketchbook...the last page!