Penny Jar

The Penny Jar originally belonged to my grandmother and at first I thought it was a Mason jar, but in Canada the Gem jar seems more prevalent.  This one says, "Improved" and "made in Canada" on it as well. I thought I knew what the penny jar looked like, but while painting it found the colours and forms to be a surprise.  I was interested in describing the light as it entered the jar, the way the direct sunlight beamed through the glass to intermingle with the coins, and I wanted a calligraphic brushstroke when describing textures.  I was amazed at the array of colours - from deep purple, to copper, to a tawny hue. 

The colours I used to paint the penny jar ranged from burnt umber, lamp black with a lot of magenta and dioxine purple for the shadows, to cadmium red light and yellow for the copper colour, to yellow ochre and flake white for the tawny pennies.  The glass jar had a blue cast, so I used cerulean and ultramarine for the highlights, with lamp black for the shadows. 

I've rediscovered flake or lead white - interestingly, the tube is twice as heavy as other paint tubes.  I mix it with linseed oil to get the right consistency and I'm finding it has a certain creamy texture that adds a fluid quality to the paint.  I'm also using the soft cerulean and ultramarine for my blues.  They grey down quickly when mixed with other colours, so I still use phthalo blue when I need a strong blue. 

I like Winsor and Newton paints - they're the right consistency for me.  I also use LeFranc for certain more exotic reds which you can't mix yourself.