The Cradle, day 5

I spent the morning working on the background, correcting the color. Mine was too warm and reddish. So I mixed up a new gray with more blue in it (I used burnt umber and manganese blue, plus white.) This was a good color for the upper left quadrant of the painting. The right side was warmer, so I made another mixture with more burnt umber, less manganese, and added some cadmium yellow, plus white. I worked on it all morning and was happier with the color of the background draperies. I used the background color on the right to cut into Camille's face a little so she didn't look so plump-cheeked. I also repainted the bed posts and the yellow bed on the left.

This is how far I was at lunchtime:

After lunch I repainted the drapery over the cradle so I could put the details of red flowers and green leaves on it. When I was satisfied with the cloth, I started painting the flowers. I used alizarin crimson and cadmium red light, with some burnt umber and white, in different combinations for the flowers. I used cobalt blue and cad yellow, and ultramarine and cad yellow, in different combinations for the leaves. Monet's flowers are just dabs he made quickly with a tiny brush, and my brush wasn't as small. I also had to be careful and not as free as he was.

I thought I might finish today, but decided not to rush it. I was getting lost in the flowers, so I'm leaving the rest for next week. This is as far as I got:

click on the images for a larger view.