Painting From Life-Even When it's Still

Every Tuesday I get together with a group of Maine watercolor painter. The group usually paint plain air but winter weather puts a damper on that. 

One of the painters was kind enough to let us use her house as a paint studio this week and there on the kitchen counter we set up a still life. 

This still life made me realize the challenge of painting clear glass. Not only do you see what is inside the glass container, you see what's behind it, what's next to it and what's reflected in it. 

I've often encountered this challenge when painting flowers in a vase and just did my best to paint something passable, which is what I did in this case as well. 

As a part of the 2013 Watercolor challenge, I have decided to take on the challenge of clear containers.