finish step by step

Today I spent about 2 hours finishing up this painting. Mostly I worked on that apple to get that acid green and soft highlight looking right. Also added some green into the front fold of the fabric that the still life sits on. Actually added a few acid green touches in several places to balance that apple. When you have a strong color like that acid green, it needs to be repeated or else it becomes too important. As one of my wise teachers told me--the eye is drawn to singular things. For instance if you have a black sheet of paper and one white dot on it--the eye will go directly to the dot. Same thing if you have a white sheet of paper with a black dot. So if the apple is the only thing in the painting that is green then the eye will be drawn to that and not appreciate the entire painting. Now I will let this dry for 24 hours and then paint on a coating of Liquin as a sealer. It also brings out the colors that can be a little chalky when dry. I like this little still life. Hardest thing to do is stop. Overworking kills a painting so I try to learn a little with each one rather than expect myself to produce a masterpiece--ain't happening--and wouldn't be any fun anyway! Main thing is to enjoy the process and that I really do.