Shadow and Perspective

This piece was my 2nd attempt painting a tea set. I want to put together a little illustrated herbal tea book with my own illustrations some day.

But first I have to improve my writing and art skills. Steemit and my Steemian friends have been one the greatest boost I've found in my 57 years of life. This was a natural progression of improvement that wasn't intended. I wanted my tea sets to look better. I had no plan, this was kind of an organic evolution.

I'm a self taught artist. Sometimes I use YouTube to help me. There are some great artist teaching basic drawing and painting skills you should check YouTube out if you are looking for a drawing and painting teacher.

14 x 11, mixed media paper, watercolor, gouache, pen, and ink, 2016

My 2nd Attempt Had Problems With Perspective And Shadowing

I liked my first try with the rose hip tea and flowers. I tried to repeat the pattern but picked a very complicated pattern. I struggled to finish this one. I felt defeated I could not catch the shadows playing correctly across the lotus saucer and tea cup. The cup looks like it's going to fall off my saucer. The background is not laying flat either. I consider this piece primative but pretty.

My Third Attempt

I still had problems with the yellow blossomed teacup sitting on the saucer with proper shadowing and my table and wall looked a better but not perfect. I didn't struggle near as much as I did with the lotus blossom tea cup and saucer.

My Fouth Attempt with Shadow And Perspective Was A Breakthrough For Me

The rust red teapot and white teacup sitting on a wooden tray, I noticed my struggles to improve were drastically changing along with my idea about simplicity. My paintings were becoming more complicated and realistic. I wanted to speed up my drawings and paintings by keeping them simple. My inner-drive to improve my skills had other plans for me. The fight for quality or the fight for speed, quality won.

The Pink Flowered Teapot Is My Favorite Out Of The Series

All my struggles trying to figure out how to make an inanimate object look real came together and I was so happy!

Why Did I Pick A Mirror For A Table Top?

I really thought I was going to puke with the depth and perspective on this one. The stretching and growing made me sick to my stomach. I had some skills and practice to rest on though. I persevered and used my stubbornness to complete this one and I lost the dizzy feeling I got trying to get the reflection in the mirror to match the objects sitting on it. I'm not as happy with this piece as I was with my 5th attempt, the saucer and teacup have perspective issues. But I love the patina coloring I developed on the set. The piece has a nice reflective coloring old porcelain sets get with age and use.