"West Coast Textures"

5"x7"

As winter settles in here, the garden has dissolved into a mess of 

sodden leaves and stalks.  Not much colourful out there to paint! 

So, I am using my collection of stones, twigs and shells as models.

 For this particular set up, I used a fairly bright spot light, 

which increased  the contrast from the previous painting. 

Stronger light makes the details easier to see, but also 

tends to wash away subtle tonalities.  It's a bit of a trick 

to keep it all in balance.