This toy cash register caught my eye when searching for a 'starting object' for my next painting.  I set it out in the sun and looked at the patterns that the shadows cast.  I also imagined that it was a real cash register and thought of how it played a part in our lives.

I gathered up some food products that you would purchase from a grocery store and huddled them around the register.  I envisioned a woman on top of the register, grocery bags in hand, waiting for the bus.

I needed a bench for the bus stop.  Laguna Beach has maintained this old style bench around the city.  It is in the parks, on the streets and this one was on the Laguna Beach High School tennis courts.  I set a bag of groceries on the bench to get some scale and to see how the shadows looked.

I sketched this scene with all the components.  Now, all I needed was someone to play the part of the grocery shopper...


...Carol's sister Jan agreed to be my model and posed in her backyard.  Exactly what I was looking for.  And with Jan in place, the title of the painting was simple.  It will be called "Grocery Shopper".

With all the components sketched in on the canvas, I've begun by painting the soup can.  As usual, the first pass of oil pigment is thinned down with turpentine.

Next was the Morton Salt container.  Notice how the lettering goes from a cool gray to a lighter warm gray as it moves towards the front.  It is getting reflective light from a white paper meat wrapper.

This old meat wrapper from a Lucky's store was on my shelf in my studio, left over from an old project.  It's perfect for the painting.  Look at all the variances of grays in the shadows.  The warmer and lighter ones are reflecting the warmth from the table.

When an object is painted without all the values surrounding it, it may appear to be a little out of place.  This orange will settle into the painting once the cash register and the cast shadows are painted.

This Schilling cinnamon spice can is a generic symbol of the times.  One of those very recognizable icons that has stood the test of time.

With the tomato rendered below the spice can, I'm ready to deal with the counter top's color and shadows.

I've surrounded the cash register, making it look like a ghost on the canvas. I'll attack the register next.

The main object, the cash register, has its first coat of paint.

The back wall is given a greenish hue, going from light to dark as it moves away from the light source.

I decided to use our son, Brady's name for the bench advertising.  It would be more appropriate to say Brady's Mercedes Dealership, but Auto Repair fit better :-)

This is a close-up of the lamp post. 

I've begun to paint Jan, the last object to be painted before beginning the final passage of paint.

My grocery shopper is now at the same 'half finished' point as the rest of the painting and...

...the painting is halfway done, with every inch of the canvas receiving a thin layer of oil paint.

The first area to be painted with the final layer of paint is the back wall.  Its hue and value will help dictate the color and darkness of all the other areas.  There is a subtle transition of light to dark from left to right.

The Campbell's soup can is done.  I painted it first amongst the grouping of items on the right because it will be easier to overlap the forward objects.

The Schilling cinammon can is finished.  Notice how it transitions from light to dark (left to right), as the reflective light is brighter on the left.

 
The final paint has been applied to the Morton Salt container with both bristle and sable brushes, the latter for the small tight areas. The meat package's white paper reflects into the salt container, making the lower area lighter than the top of the container, which faces the sky.

Look closely and you can see the thickness of the paint as it gets into the highlight areas of the orange.

You can also see the thickness of the final layer of oil on the highlight areas of the tomato and the tomato stem.

I enjoyed painting the butcher paper wrapping. There are a variety of grays that show the reflective light and define the shape of the package.

The lamp post is a simple shape in the painting, but a very important part of the design.  It helps frame the focal point of the painting.

With my apologies to my sister-in-law (who is a lot prettier and thinner) I have completed the shopper.  I chose to change her to fit the mood of the painting rather than try to do a portrait.

All the objects on top of the cash register are completed.

Here's a closer look at the bus stop bench.

Here's the painting completed.