Painting Metal Surfaces: Reflectivity, Polish and Patina

Metal surfaces in oil painting — silver, gold, copper, brass, iron, steel — are among the most challenging still life and landscape subjects, because metal reflects everything around it, silver is mirror-bright, reflecting the room, painter and light source, gold is warm and glowing, copper is reddish, iron is dark and matte, oil painters render metal by painting what it reflects, not what it is, a silver goblet reflects dark windows, bright highlights and the surrounding objects, metal surfaces have sharp, bright highlights and dark reflected shadows, old metal has patina, tarnish and wear, which adds texture, contemporary painters render metal with sharp edges and precise reflections, using small brushes for highlights, metal still life oil paintings test the painter’s ability to observe reflections, control value contrast and render hard, polished surfaces, mastering metal means understanding that a metal object is a mirror, not a solid color.

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