Begin “Cabbage” Painting by Artist Gail Niebrugge

Here is the start of a smaller canvas, 18″ x 24″, depicting a close-up view of a cabbage from my summer vegetable garden.  I was attracted to this plant one sunny day by the interesting patterns of light and shadow through the veined leaves.  This will not be painted in pointillism, a technique I’ve used for more than 20 years, but with a small brush carefully blending the acrylic paint before it dries.  I admit, I’m a bit rusty at this technique, one that I used for 15 years before I began pointillism.  Acrylic dries so fast that the blending must take place while it is still wet and pliable.  This is a test of my skills, but fun to do again after all this time.  What I’m showing in this photo is the first layer of paint being applied over a pencil drawing, establishing the light and shadows.