New copy - Cézanne's "The Peppermint Bottle"

It has been almost a year since I've been to copy at the National Gallery! I decided not to finish the last copy I was working on, and got a permit to copy "The Peppermint Bottle" by Cézanne.
I started by sketching it out very carefully, using light blue paint. I did a lot of measuring, you know, with my brush held at arm's length, squinting down the length of my arm. I always feel like an idiot doing that, with a crowd of people watching me, but it's the only way I know to get an accurate drawing. Here is my set-up in front of the painting, and the progress I made before I broke for lunch.

After lunch, I started putting in some color. I didn't get too far, and decided not to push it, since I was tired and freezing. Usually the galleries are very warm and humid, but today it was really chilly in there, and I was just wearing a t-shirt. So I called it a day. I feel that this is a pretty solid start, and I'm looking forward to picking it up again next Monday.

copy after Cézanne's "The Peppermint Bottle", day 1

Day 3, Pissarro's "The Artist's Garden at Eragny"

This was my progress today when I broke for lunch.

I painted over the little plants I had put in the garden last time, and I moved the figure to the right.

At the end of the day. I put the little plants back in. I painted over the sky, with a lighter blue, and whitened the clouds. It was a very busy day at the museum, with tons of groups coming through. They were distracting, but so appreciative that I felt like a rock star.

It still needs work - the tree in the middle is too large. The place where I'm standing is about 5 feet from the painting, but when I walk right up to it, I can see all of Pissarro's tiny brush marks, each a different color. I'm going to try to work toward that next time.