In Progress - Unwrapping Hopper Trompe L'Oeil Subject and Painting Comparison

"Unwrapping Hopper," oil on panel (in progress), 8" x 8".

I thought it might be interesting to show an in-progress, side-by-side comparison (subject and painting) trompe l'oeil oil piece I was working on today. This is the most complicated of trompe l'oeil pieces I've done to date because of the complexity of the crinkled shapes in the brown wrapping paper. I find that I don't approach each painting the same way. Sometimes I do a more detailed drawing, sometimes I do an underpainting in brown and white and let it dry before adding color. For this one, because there are so many shapes to paint, I really just added a handful of marks for reference because a detailed line drawing would have been crazy confusing. Instead, I just look carefully and work in progression from section to section in order to make sure all of the shapes and colors are matching up correctly. Enjoy!