Lemons Lesson Number 12

I want to heighten the white of the plate, so I added a pale, very wet wash of cool French Ultramarine Blue to the table and the shadow under the plate. This wash will also slightly soften the edges of the plate shadow and bring the focus back up to the fruit, which is the focal point.

Lemons Lesson Number 11

The relative value of the background was looking a little too light for my taste, so I used the background mixture from before, but I added some VanDyke Brown and Permanent Alizarin Crimson to it to darken the value of the mixture.

Then I applied another flat wash to the background. It might be too light in value, even after this wash. But allow this to dry before the next step. Then re-evaluate.

Lemons Lesson Number 10

I wanted to warm up the lemons, so I used a wet mixture of Burnt Sienna and a touch of VanDyke Brown to add to the shadow areas.

I continued on with this color to develop more of the darker values in the glass bowl. On the right side of the top part of the bowl I added a pretty strong value of the background mixture because at this part of the bowl the background shows through the glass.

I also glazed some New Gamboge, very wet, on the lighter areas of the lemons.

Lemons Lesson Number 9

Now I am going back to my French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna pigments. As a general rule, I either paint the shadows of an object first, or I work from large shapes, to smaller shapes with lighter values to darker values in the process. Here I am working to slowly develop the darker values, paying attention to color, value, shape, edges, all in relation to one another.

Sometimes it is helpful to use small scraps of white paper and cover over the areas of the reference photo that you are not looking at. Expose only the small areas you want to see. Isolating the area often makes it easier to distinguish the shapes, values and edges, and helps increase the accuracy of your brushwork.

You can see the blues and browns in the shadows of the plate and bowl. These objects are reflecting what is around them, so the colors used in the table, background and lemons, will all show up in some form in the shadows and reflections.

Happy Fourth of July!

Being a patriotic American, I have to wish you all a very Happy Independence Day!
May God Bless America!

Lemons Lesson Number 8

Continuing on with our lesson...

Using the Aureolin Yellow mixture, I painted some reflections into the plate and bowl. I cannot emphasize enough to use a light touch. Look at the reference before you add color.

Only put the color where you really see it. Keep the value of the tones in mind as well as the shape of the areas to be painted. Also pay attention to the edges. If your edges need to be soft, apply the pigment, then use a clean, damp brush and soften the edge very gently with moisture. Don't over brush or your subsequent layers of color will be applied to a fuzzy surface and you will lose the crispness of the reflections in the glass. The idea is to study your photo reference and understand it, look more than you paint. If you aren't sure, don’t paint it.

Lemons Lesson Number 7

Here I have used the French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna in a very thin, watered down consistency to develop some of the reflections in the glass and added more color to the shadows in the lemons. I used the colors separately and mixed together in various mixtures to add depth to the shadows.

I also used a very thinned out mixture of Aureolin Yellow with a drop of Burnt Sienna to paint the table area. I painted this mixture over the white of the table and over the previously painted shadow area under the plate.

If you would like to paint along with my blog lessons, you can get the photo references and drawings sent to you by visiting my etsy shop, clicking on the Online Lesson icon, and pay a small fee of $5.00. I will then email all the references to you.