"Red Grapes"

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"Red Grapes"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I'm so happy to stay in and paint all day the weather out here is scorching HOT, it got to be 113 degrees fahrenheit with the heat index.  Even in the studio painting it got to be a little warm, its crazy to think that Minneapolis gets so cold in the winter and in the summer it gets unbearably hot.  As stated before I've been extremely busy with other paintings and teaching, I do miss painting these alla prima's and enjoy every moment I have when i'm able to do so.  I wanted to continue the theme of painting grapes on this beautiful marble piece, this time I introduced red grapes into the mix.  Red grapes have such beautiful textures to them, the soft lighting that wraps around the grapes and deep rich colors makes it enjoyable to paint.  

I also wanted to remind everyone that I will be giving a live demo at the Uptown Art Fair, it will be on August 5 from 1-5 p.m.  It'll be great to see you guys there!  I will also be teaching a still life and figure drawing workshops at the Bloomington Art Center, if anyone's interested you can now sign up for the classes.  Click here to see sign up!

I started with the usual dry brush approach for the drawing stage, when that was completed I stated the background and base.  The colors I used where cerulean blue, naples yellow, titanium white those where for the background.  For the base I used ivory black, titanium white, raw umber, and yellow ochre.  At this stage I'm just stating the middle values first to create a base I can work from, this allows me to go lighter or darker without getting muddy.  I never start with my darkest darks and lightest lights in the initial stages, I like to build up to my final values.

After the middle values are stated I start to paint the darker values, I do this first because it allows me to see how light I need to go with my lights.  After the darks are completed I state the lighter values and take the marble to a close finish.

I then start on the grapes stating the middle values first as I did with the marble, the colors I used are alizarin crimson, cad. yellow and burnt umber.  I also add the stem at the same time using cad. yellow and raw umber.  Then I add the darker values and their specific forms using ivory black, and burnt umber.

After the darker values are stated I add a bit of middle lighter values and start to form each grape to their specific forms.  Then I start adding more of the lighter values and their specific forms after the darker values are stated.  I take the grapes to a finish and add the finishing touches to the marble.  Needless to say after painting these guys I enjoyed eating every one of them, I then stuck my head in the freezer and cooled off from the very hot day of painting.  Thanks for stopping and viewing, I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did!