Friday, April 15, 2011

"Angel Cake"

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"Angel Cake"
6 x 6 in
Oil on Canvas Panel
I was at a local coffee shop next to my house, this place is great to go relax and just enjoy a good cup of cappuccino or coffee.  I especially like going with my sketchbook and draw the people around me, its great capturing the moment with a simple gesture.  When I was done and ready to leave I saw they had these delicious angel cakes and was just drawn to them, not only was I wanting to eat them but really wanted to paint them.  It's always fun running into your next subject your gonna paint when you least expect it.
I started with my usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber.  After the drawing's complete I start filling in the strawberries with middle values using ivory black, cad. red deep, and cad. red light.  On this stage I like to get the forms turning and getting a sense of the overall light, which is also called bigger form modeling.  I am also keeping the paints fairly thin at this stage never going to thick.
Then I start to add the darker values and put in the smaller form modeling or details, I do the same with the lighter values.  Having the bigger form modeling first stated is so important for the smaller forms to work so well with the overall form, ninety percent of the painting is done in the bigger form modeling stage.
Then I start on the body by just modeling the lights first and making sure the form is turning with the general colors.  I only paint the middle values first, when those are working well then I start to add the darker values in which I can state them with details.
When the darker values are completed I then add the lighter values and take the body to a finish.  Then I add the background by just using ultramarine blue and titanium white.
After the background is completed I move onto the base by adding the general colors, and the movement of light.  When that stage is working well I then add the details and take the whole painting to a finish.  This painting was so much fun to do from beginning to end, needless to say I enjoyed the days hard work with a delicious treat and a cappuccino.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed.




3 comments:

SYLVIANE said...

I love your painting, Jonathan, but it's not an angel cake , it's rather a devil cake ,if I consider the red horns!

April Jarocka said...

Jonathan, what can I say? It's absolutely delicious... did you paint it in the coffee shop? No....
I've added you to my blogroll. Thank you for sharing your tips. Now..back to painting chocolate for me...

SEILER said...

Good god this looks good! Mmmm!