Almost finished demo from fall class

I'm almost finished with this painting, which was my demo for my fall class.  I'm so sorry I didn't take a photo before this stage because I like to compare it to the unfinished painting as a form of tortune.  :-)   It's torture because sometimes my unfinished piece is better.  I hope that is not the case here.

When I put in more of the turquoise background the apples looked lonely so I added these berry things and leaves which added verticle volume, which was most need.

Since the demo I glazed more of the red part of the yellow aple and painted the berries and leaves, and of course the backgroun.  It's always helpful to take a photo and evaluate. I'm not sure I like that much red on what used to be a mostly yellow apple.  I think I'm going to wipe some of the red off.  Since I oiled up before starting, it should be really easy to remove.

If you don't oil up, you should consider it.  I use a 1:6 mixture of stand oil to gamsol.  I apply it to any painted surface that is now completely dry.  The benefit of this is that it immediately makes the darks rich as they appeared when first painted and wet.  It allows you to see what the true value of each object is, especially the dark colors that seem to get a milky look when they (and earth colors) dry.  Moreover you are ready to glaze any portion of the painting.  Finally, the layer of oil if you paint on top gives the new and old layers depth that you can't get with an alla prima painting.