I signed up to Paintcoach’s PaintWeek class, and did this demo painting of an apple with cherries. Because I was using acrylics and not oils, the gradations between the values are harsher. I didn’t blend; I was layering.
I am more satisfied with the cherries than the apple.
This persimmon is from our tree (which has largely been picked over by now, by my husband harvesting, and by the local blue jays pecking at the fruit).
I held the persimmon in my left hand, looking down at it as I painted with my right hand. My goal was to paint the detail as realistically as possible. The primary pastel I used was one from Great American, called Marigold (585.0) I love the vibrant color — perfect for this fruit!
The photo is of the specific persimmon, but was taken afterward, and is rotated 90 degrees to the viewer’s left relative to the sketch.
This study of a pear was done on “Leaf Green” Colorfix pastel paper. The sketch was done using vine charcoal.
This study was done on Canson Mi-Tientes Touch paper, one from my Jackson’s Art sampler.
I like the contrast of the blue background with the orangey-yellow highlighted side of the pear. I don’t particularly care for the way the pastel doesn’t “fill in” the paper.
And since I did this study, I’ve learned that the pros often do underpainting for numerous reasons, one of which is coverage and a unified tone. I had thought that using toned paper in itself might be enough. It’s okay but it looks more like a drawing than a painting.
This fruit study was my take on an exercise from Marla Baggetta’s “Making Your Mark” online workshop.
I used Fabriano Ingres pastel paper — one of the papers in the sampler I bought from Jackson’s Art — and am dissatisfied with the vertical lines in the paper.
Today I painted my espresso cup.
What I like is my color choices: I think they closely resemble the cup in “life”. I’m especially happy with the crema color(s). I’m somewhat pleased with the actual drawing of the cup. I am least pleased with my mark-making, especially with regard to the crema. Perhaps I would be better off using NuPastels or even pastel pencils to render the detail more finely.
Or, be more impressionistic in my painting, and use blurry strokes instead of trying to match the reference so closely.
BetterLateThanNeverArt 