Painting class #11

We were to bring in 3 to 5 objects to create our own still life that communicates something. We were given some: a secret, a tragedy, a triumph, a conspiracy, an argument and a conversation.

What I came up with ends up, to me, being a combination of a few of those things. I at first gathered up a lantern, a rusted pipe and a pitcher. After further thought, I pulled out an old clarinet we have and was just positive it was what I needed in this painting.

Could I have chosen a harder thing to paint? I suppose so, but this is pretty rough. I love the feeling of the still life set up:


But the execution is pretty rough. Here's my underpainting:



And this is what I ended the class with:



Oh, I hope I can pull this one together. That back ground is...tough. I want to achieve some realism with the clarinet, but those keys are going to be a total pain!!

The color scheme of this bugs me. I suppose right now, it's analogous, but I tend to like things that cross the color wheel a bit. What should I do? Add some colors to the clarinet that don't exist? That hurts my brain a bit, but I think it is the answer.