Thursday, July 1, 2010

"Apricots"

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"Apricots"
8 x 10 in
Oil on Canvas Panel
These apricots were nice to arrange with soft natural lighting coming in an angle, the oranges and reds that were also a nice element to paint with these guys.  Needless to say after painting them I had myself a nice snack!
I started again with no mediums just a bit of raw umber on the brush, after the drawing was established I started to paint in sections and taking it to a finish.  I started with the first apricot working the dark values first I used ivory black, permanent rose, cadmium red light and cadmium orange.
Then I added the middle and lighter values using cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, and titanium white.  When I finished with that section I moved onto the second apricot starting again with the darkest values first using ivory black, permanent rose, and cadmium orange.  Its important to note that its best to constantly walk back and forth when applying the paint, it's really easy to overwork an area and make the painting look dull.  I am constantly walking back and forth to my easel when applying paint it keeps things fresh and I can see if I am overworking certain areas.
Then I added middle and lighter values using cadmium yellow medium. cad. orange, cad. red light, titanium white, and cad. yellow light.  Then I moved onto the third apricot using the same mixtures as the first and second apricot, I am also repeating the process by starting with the darks and gradually moving to the lights.
With these two pics I am showing how I moved from the middle too lighter values, I am slowly going from one value to the other judging its value and chroma.  I'm also being careful to keep the drawing it's really easy to get sloppy when working with so many objects in one area, the other thing I'm aware of is  consistency of paints.  I start from thin and progressively get thicker but not too thick just enough to cover the area or enough to express what the area needs, remember don't overwork the area you'r painting its easy to fall into that trap.
Then I added the background using cerulean blue, naples yellow, and titanium white I made sure to go around all the edges of the apricots and soften them.  I then moved onto the dark values of the base using ivory black, cadmium orange, and cadmium red light, I apologize for the pic not being as clear as the others.
This is the final picture I added the middle and lighter values to the base, I also restated the darks in the base and some within the cast shadows.  Overall these apricots where delicious to paint, its fun arranging these little guys and painting them.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing hope you enjoyed!

2 comments:

Linda Popple said...

Very nice, warm colors. Your shapes are sensuous. Beautifully done!

Joshua said...

how long does it typically take you to finish your pieces?