PASTEL LESSON: CLEAR GLASS BOTTLE ON A REFLECTIVE SURFACE (300# WATERCOLOR PAPER)

 Here's the still life lit with one light.

A quick sketch with a #2 pencil.

I toned the paper with a warm, mid-value wash of watercolor in a reddish
color which will sparkle through the cool pastel colors I will use.

The initial pastel layers are loose and done with a hard pastel.

I key the painting by applying the light value that is the blue glass. 

I concentrate on adding the mid values, including glazing colors from the
background over the bottle that was too light.

The last step is to add the details in the lightest lights and the darkest darks. 
Three things fool us into thinking the bottle is glass; the sparkle, the
squiggle (distorted objects seen through the glass) and painting the background
through the shape so we feel we are seeing the background through the glass.