Rita Salazar Dickerson

 Sometimes I see something  that speaks to me with such beauty and personality that I just have to paint a portrait of it. In this case, it was this beautiful teapot.

Sadler England Teapot
8 x 10", Oil on canvas
Rita Salazar Dickerson (c)2014

Stage 1: The drawing. With a wash made up of Ultramarine Blue and Transparent Earth Red thinned with mineral spirits, I loosely painted in the shape of the teapot that was positioned on a shelf four feet away.

Stage 2: Blocking in the teapot. With a thin layer of paint I blocked in the major shapes, colors and values.

Stage 3: The background and foreground. After the teapot was blocked in, I painted the first layer of the background and foreground.

Stage 4: Adding more color and detail. At this point it was time to prepare the teapot with a second layer of paint for the flowers that were to come. I paid close attention to the shadows. Since I was working wet paint onto wet paint, I wanted the flowers to work into this layer -- allowing some of the paint from underneath to show through.

Stage 5: Completing the painting. Before working on the teapot I gave the background and foreground another layer of paint. Then, squinting my eyes, I looked at the teapot's flower design and painted my impression of it. Painting every last line of detail was not necessary. When I focused on the colors, shapes and design, the story of this teapot appeared.