Oil Painting lesson with Gregory Smith - Day 3

I started off with leaves today.
The challenge was how to get leaves to come forward.

First, Greg told me to put highlights, and, immediately they seemed to come forward. Incredible.
Then, I used darks and mid-tones to create an illusion of leaves growing at different directions.
It's very important not to lose darkest darks at the bottom section, and not to draw every single leaves.

I worked on the table and a pine cone. The latter wasn't so difficult because there's darks already in there. All I had to do was put lights and mid-tones.

He also told me that the box was too cool, so I put some warmth and worked more on its shadows.

Finally, he said that as a balance the shadows on the top section was too dark in comparison to the bottom shadows. So, I made it a bit lighter and it looks more natural that way.

This is my first attempt at floral painting. I had not idea of how to approach it.
With Greg's timely advice, I was able to finish this one.
I'm happy with this painting.

Oil on panel. 16 x 20 in.