"Cantaloupes" 6x6

"Cantaloupes" 6x6

Here's my take on some cantaloupe slices. I took this image in the late afternoon before dinner. The sunlight came streaming in just right, making the cantaloupe glow from within. Again, I'm using broken color for a little fun. Below, I have provided the steps in which it took for me to create this small piece. Comments welcome!


Sorry about the glare in this photo...
First I started out with a pastel pencil sketch and underpainting of Createx paint in the complimentary colors of the final piece. These odd shapes and colors look funny and it is very hard to understand this step, but rest assured, it will turn out...well, I'm hoping it will turn out! You may notice a "ghosting" of squares from a previous color study just underneath the under painting. That's because I'm re-using some paper (going green here) by rinsing off the offending work. It may affect my work, but I'm not too worried here because the pastel does cover most of it anyway.


Next, I begin to block in with broken color marks, working on establishing my lights and darks. It is a pretty offensive piece right now...yuck!


At this point, I begin to get the color established by filling in most of the cantaloupes with an orange and some really intense reds. I'm also thinking where the highlights will go, or just what is my focal point. I begin to notice that my subject not correctly drawn, and the shapes are a bit off. I have to go back and fix this....


Here I have made my drawing corrections. Can you tell from the previous image? I'm now interested in getting that glowing orange from the sunlight and making sure my shadows are correctly in place. Almost done...


Darkening the background makes it look a little mysterious doesn't it? Because the two farthest background cantaloupes are in the back, I dull the colors by adding the compliment green back on top of the reds. This makes them recede out of the focal point. I do this so the highlights and bolder colors of the focal pieces come forward, giving the piece some nice depth. I think the image is done!