“Kyusu Teapot and Teacup” was created using a time-honored approach rooted in the Flemish tradition—a layered, deliberate method practiced by painters for over 500 years. The process begins long before the brush touches the final surface. The arrangement itself was composed and lit within a custom-built shadow box beside the easel, allowing for fine control over light and atmosphere. Every object was placed with intention, inviting a quiet conversation between shape, texture, and reflection.

Initial thumbnail sketches in pencil helped determine the core design—how each element would balance and relate to the others. A small color study followed, allowing for the testing of palette and light interactions in advance. This preparatory work ensures that the final painting emerges from a place of deep understanding and clarity.

The composition was then lightly drawn onto the primed linen using vine charcoal. Rather than detailing every surface, this stage focused on capturing the essential placement and proportion of each form. Over that sketch, a monochromatic underpainting was developed in shades of warm and cool gray—defining the value structure and laying the foundation for the work’s light and volume.

Once dry, thin transparent layers of oil paint—known as glazes—were applied across the surface. These glazes allow light to pass through and reflect back from lower layers, giving the painting its characteristic glow. In areas like the glimmering teacup handle or the luminous blue glazes of the kyusu teapot, multiple passes were required to achieve the depth and clarity desired.

This slow, careful method allows for an extraordinary level of refinement—where color, edge, and atmosphere are all tuned toward stillness. Every stage of the painting serves to deepen that sense of presence. The result is not simply a depiction of objects, but a quiet invitation to linger.