"Revival" (9x12 oil on panel) painting process

Good morning,
A new still life painting. Here is the closeup because, well, a good thumbnail seems important here :).

Here is the setup in my studio and the start of the painting. I love my freshly painted dark matte gray walls. The easel is an Edge Pro Gear Paintbook. Great for smaller paintings:

Next stage. That's a Robert Simmons filbert bristle brush. My favorite type of brush. This is size 2, but my most-used workhorse is a size 4:

Next stage. The persimmon (and secondarily the silver pot) is the star of the show here. All of my composition decisions (setup, color, value, detail) are based on creating focus here:

And the finished painting, "Revival" (9x12 oil on panel),

This painting was the first after my recent 7-month hiatus, and thus has some significance for me. As I've previously shared with my email newsletter subscribers, here is the quick reason for the hiatus: Moved from Seattle to Olympia, WA. After 4 yrs at home with kids, my wife resumes her career. So we swap roles. I do full time dad. Many adjustments and learning experiences. House hunt. Buy house. Move again. Get settled. Adjustments. Just recently I'm getting back into a painting groove as much as possible while being dad. Yay! This one sold immediately, which made for a good start back in action.

Thanks for reading! -David

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