Still Life With Cherries Lesson 3

Today I am going to add some Burnt Sienna to the puddle of yellows that I used yesterday. Again I want to work in the largest basic washes first, so I will paint a foundational layer of paint for the table. I mix a large puddle and use lots of water. The wetter the wash the nicer it will flow when applied to the paper.

Because I work very wet, there is usually a bead of paint at the end of the wash. I use a piece of paper toweling to gently rub along the taped edge of the painting. You can also just touch the paper toweling to the puddle, without even touching the paper. This will siphon off the extra liquid so that it will not run back into the wash and create a bloom.

Paint the largest areas first, then go back and paint the table where it shows through the jar. Because the glass will distort the line, it should not line up perfectly with the normal view of the jar.

Still Life With Cherries Lesson 2

Today I want to begin adding my big washes. I like to start with my largest washes, and I often start with the first glaze of a background wash. I used a large, wet puddle of Aureolin Yellow and New Gamboge to wash onto the background. I keep the board tipped, stroke each area only once and allow gravity and water to make the pigment flow. If you use a very light touch on the paper, only using the brush to direct the puddle, your paper will not be disturbed and your washes will be clean and bright.

I also added some of this mixture to the areas in the jar where I can see the background showing through.