Dragon Teapot work in progress.

While I'm waiting for another canvas to dry for an upcoming commission piece, I decided to start work on a still life to keep me occupied.

I took some shots the other day out on my deck, and after going through them, I've decided on this one. I use photos a lot because with my schedule, I don't often have time to work from life - especially since I prefer natural lighting over artificial for my work.

So, here I've begun sketching the painting out on a gessoed sheet of Strathmore Windpower Vellum - a paper that I've found to work very well with oils.

Bad shot of the final drawing.

Here, I've put down the base coat.

And here it is after a couple of hours.
Still have a long way to go yet, but I'm happy with the start.