"Dipped Strawberries"

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"Dipped Strawberries"

7 x 5 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Hi everyone, I've been really busy again and glad I was able to paint this delicious cheesecake.  I love how the dripped strawberries wrap around the cake, it looks alive.  I also wanted to capture the glimmer part of the strawberries, it's smooth, beautiful and delicious.  With this painting I wanted to show how important the co relation of drawing and painting is.  It's vital for a painter to know how to draw and the dynamics of being a good draftsmen, in order to become a great painter.  There's so much similarities between the two that we overlook at time, its right in front of us we just have to learn how to see it.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and just a bit of raw umber.  Then I started  really thin with oils using just cad. red light to give a thin base.  

Then I started to introduce some darker values and middle values using ivory black and raw umber.  Then I started to add some highlights with titanium white.  The point of this approach is to work slowly to the highlights and have control from one value to the next.  It also depends on the pressure one applies to the brush.  Always starting light for a lighter value and press a little harder if you want more paint and opaque values.

Then I repeated the same approach to the second strawberry starting out very thin and building up to the thickness I want. 

I'm also developing the creamy area around the strawberry, starting very thin and at times pressing harder with the brush if I want it to be darker or opaque.

Then I added the body of the cheesecake using naples yellow, raw umber and titanium white.

I use the same mixture for the bottom of the cheesecake just adding a bit of ivory black for the darks.  I'm also going back and forth between the strawberries touching them up incase I missed anything.  When I start focusing on another area and go back to the area I finished painting, I have a fresh eye and able to see if I have to tweak certain areas.

Then I add the background colors using cerulean blue, naples yellow, and titanium white.  I added in the later part of the painting this time, I noticed I liked adding it in this stage.  I'm able to control the edges more when I add the background later, giving me more control on how soft I can go.  Then I add the base after finishing the background, I used cad. orange, raw umber, titanium white, naples yellow and ivory black.  This painting was fun to produce, I challenged myself to go back to basics.  The important thing is to always learn and keep pushing yourself to the next level.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed!  Bon Appetit!