Gumball Machine - Work in Progress by Darren Maurer

16" x 24"

Here is one of the other commissions I have been working on. In the past, I rarely have posted paintings before they were finished. One reason for this is I am rarely, if ever, happy with any of them. Lots of whining, complaining, disgusted looks, and general bad attitude toward the canvas that is the lucky one getting oil paint scrubbed all over it. It sounds sick but really love my work process. I'm still usually not happy until my paintings get into the final stages. I'm going to try and lighten up a little bit and post a few progress shots from time to time of some of the larger pieces I'm working on. My advice to beginning artists is to keep scrubbing the paint around until you are happy.

This commission was inspired by some of the other small gumball machine pieces I have painted in the past. The area of the painting where the gumballs are located looks white but it is toned a very neutral gray. I have been working on the basic colors and tones in the red area and also the areas that will later become chrome. Chrome is fun to paint and always invites lots of questions from beginners and non painters on how it is done. One of my next steps will be painting the gumballs and shading each one correctly. Then adding all the highlights on the metal and the glass and finishing details. The next time I post on my blog this will hopefully be a finished painting. This is a Sold Commission Painting.