Friday, May 27, 2011

"Bagged Cherries"

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"Bagged Cherries"
10 x 8 in
Oil on Canvas Panel
This painting was so much fun to do, its completely different than what I would do.  Painting a clear bag is something that seems to intimidating to paint, it's so complex in many ways.  I decided to just go at it with this painting and see what I can do and push myself out of my comfort zone.  Painting these cherries where so much fun, with this painting I was really able to show more of the beautiful colors these rainier cherries have.  I have to say that was the funnest part of the painting, painting so many cherries at once was a bit much to do but a lot of fun and glad I did so.  Not to say the other areas weren't fun, its just the cherries are in their own level.
I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and just a bit of raw umber.  Then I started on the cherries all at once just stating the general colors, I'm not stating any of the darker and lighter tones yet.
Then I start stating the middle to darker values not going to dark yet I wanna slowly get to the real darks, this way I'm able to control the values from light to dark.  The second picture shows that I stated the darker values and also added the stem to the cherries, I've also added the cast shadow to the base to have a point to work on when I start on it later.
Then I state the lighter values and their specific forms, at this stage I'm able to take the cherries to a finish.  Then I start on the wooden base by adding the general colors and also the fall of light.
Then I add the darker values and their specific values, I do the same with the lighter values and take the cutting board to a finish.  After the cutting board is complete I then fill in the background, since I'm painting a see through bag I can just cover the whole background at this stage.
Then I start adding some of the middle values to give the impression of the bag, then I add highlights and the middle values.  Painting this bag was something I've never done before especially in one sitting, it was a challenge that I'm glad I did.  Painting a clear bag has so many obstacles to it but I found if you keep it simple then its not to complicated.  When painting the bag I made sure to soften the edges around the cherries to push some of them further away.  I had a lot of fun painting this one a bit different than what I usually do, great to get out of my comfort zone and see what I can do.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed!  





5 comments:

Kristen's Paintings said...

Very nice! Thanks for the step-by-step.

Judy P. said...

Love this, Jonathan; rats, you always make it seem so logical and easy to pull this stuff off!

Carrie Waller Watercolors said...

That's just awesome!

Pamela Hunt Lee said...

Just love that you find pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone fun! I frequently find it something other than fun, but a necessary thing to do to continue to create rather than just produce.

Shelley Whiting said...

I loved how you showed the process, it was fun. The picture is very realistic and impressive. I love the shading and reflections of the cherries and the bag. Beautiful work.