"Apple and Leaves" work in progress...

This is what I worked on today...Oil on board....the board is 5x7 with a thin dry coat of acrylic paint over the gesso. 

I found that the biggest challenge with this set up was how to paint the blackness of the background light enough to show an even darker shadow.  And to paint the black book with values that would stand out against the dark background. 

... as I was picking up my camera to take another progress shot, it occurred to me that I could switch it to video mode and see if I could take a short video while painting.    I had to hold the camera and paint, and try to keep it aimed at my painting while I looked away at my palette..not easy!.. haha... just a short experiment of 2 or 3 minutes.  I tried to add the video to this post, but kept getting an error message when uploading it.  I don't know enough about these things... I'll have to try again sometime.. or ask one of my sons for help :-)