"Limes over Lemon"

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"Limes over Lemon"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

This was a neat composition to paint, it was difficult keeping the limes still long enough to be able to paint it.  This was a good balancing act in their part, I could only do so much.  I thoroughly enjoy painting these two subjects, with their subtle value shifts within their colors is neat to capture.  As stated before the composition was another great factor to paint, I like how it can tell many different stories just by its composition.  

I also wanted to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Belated Mother's Day! I was out of town and was unable to paint till today, it's always fun to take a break and spend it with friends and family.  After a  day or two I start fidgeting to paint again, can't go to long without it.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and just a bit of raw umber on the brush.  When the drawing was complete I stated the background first and after filled in the wooden board, at this stage I'm only stating the general colors and not worried about details.

After the general colors are filled in the wooden board I stated the darker values and its specific forms.  I start narrowing down the details in this stage, I repeat the same process with the lighter values.

Then I move onto the limes after the wooden board is complete, I concentrate on big form modeling.  When I work at this stage I don't put any of the darkest or lightest values, all I worry about is stating the general middle values and also making the light turn with the form.  When thats complete I'm able to move onto the darker values and its specific forms.

When the darkest values are finished I move onto the lighter values and take the limes to a finish.  When thats complete I move onto the lemon and state the big form modeling.  When painting this stage in I make sure to keep my edges soft and not get to thick with the paints, I wanna have a nice base to work on and not have the paints get muddy.

Then I start adding the darker values and its specific forms, I also handle the subtle transitions in the middle value stage.  I'm constantly going back and forth and adjusting what needs to be softer or sharper in contrast.  I do the same when I state the lighter values and its specific forms, when doing this I take the painting to a finish.  Even when I painting the lighter values I'm still going back to my darks and adjust some areas to get the look i'm going for.  I hope you enjoyed this one it was fun painting it, thanks for stopping by and viewing!