Stainless Steel Tea Kettle (Dead Layer)
8x8 Acrylics on birch plywood panel

Metal objects are a source of great fascination for me. How can mere paint take on the appearance of shiny metal? The trick to painting metal is to paint exactly what you see. You must get lost in the abstract shapes and patterns that are reflected in the object. You can't think about the object you are painting, just the shapes.

Once you step back and take a look at the entire painting, your brain will take over and make huge assumptions based on your past experiences with viewing and handling metal objects. The reflections in shiny objects follow the contours of the object's surface. The color hue will give you a sense of what kind of metal it is. You may subconsciously know that the object would feel smooth and cold if you could touch it. And I'm certain there are many more complex things going on in the brain that deal with perception and reality.

This painting is a WIP (Work in Progress) and is at the Dead Layer stage. It's painted on birch plywood panel. When I paint on panels, plywood or hardboard (Masonite), I like to build up texture when I apply gesso to make up for the lack of texture that canvas gives. I also apply matte gel medium between painting sessions to further build texture and seal the painting for further ease of glazing.

Next stage is color...