Lemons in Red Bowl 6x6

"Lemons in Red Bowl" 6x6

I think this will be my last broken color study on fruit for awhile. Although I had a lot of fun creating these little studies of fruit, I'm ready to begin working on water subjects again. Here, I have used a resource photo from the Reference Image Library on Wetcanvas, uploaded by "Nitsa".


To start, I begin with a sketch of the image in pastel pencil and then an under painting of complimentary colors of the intended image. I used Createx acrylic airbrush pigment. It is a pretty potent pigment in a waterbased binder.


After the underpainting dries, I begin applying color. I usually establish the darkest and lightest values of the image as well as some of the mid-toned values. This is the "ugly stage" of the painting. I am intentionally letting the underpainting show through the marks of pastel. This "broken color" creates nice energy in the painting. I've noticed that the underpainting in the darker areas (bowl, parts of the fabric) needs to be in the same value! I'll take note of that next time to give it more spark.


At this stage of the piece, I'm giving shape to the bowl and lemons by adding shades of the local color. The highlights on the bowl and darkening the sides of the lemon with intense orange helps to make it look round. I'm thinking that the stripes on the back wall are conflicting with the stripes in the draped cloth. Almost done...


I've made the stripes in the wall less noticeable and worked on the fabric a lot. The top edge of the table originally was going to have a fold in the fabric, but I decided to simplify it by just making it straight across. I also rounded out the lemons a bit too. Finished!