DEMO
4
More finish and detail
have been applied to the
fruits after they have dried.
You can strengthen shadows
or colour saturation and
add details like stalks with
smaller brushes, but it is
important to leave a certain
amount of the original first
washes visible, as going over
the whole area can deaden
the original image.
Next, I wetted the area
around the fruit with clean
water and then dropped in
a mix of Ultramarine and
Permanent Mauve. I was
careful to work around the
fruit and also leave a few
white areas of dry paper
where the highlights of the
cherries would be.5
I deliberately painted the
additional cherries on top
of the blue background so
you can see the difference.
The first cherry was painted
on white paper and therefore
has a brighter colour than
those painted on top of the
dry blue background.
Using Rose Madder Hue
for the first wash together
with hints of Ultramarine and
Permanent Mauve pigment
added into the wet Alizarin,
the roundness of the4 5
7
6
cherries can be formed.
For the second lot of cherries
painted on top of the blue
background, a small amount
of Cadmium Red was added
to help brighten the colour.6
Using the size 0 brush
together with a mix of
Ultramarine, Sap Green and
Chrome Yellow, a blended
shadow was created
underneath the fruit.
Strengthen the French
Ultramarine directly
underneath the edge of the
fruit to help it stand out and
create a sense of depth.This is best done when
the first layer of shadow
is still wet.7
To avoid a hard edge
where the shadow met
the background colour,
I used a clean wet brush to
sweep around the edge of
the shadow. This softened
and lightened the colour.
The cherry stalks were
added using the size 0 brush
together with a mix of Burnt
Sienna and Olive Green.
At this stage, it is useful to
just stop and half close your
eyes to see if there are any
areas which stand out too
much or need strengthening.
In this particular instance,
I used clean water and a
sponge on the whole lemon
to lighten and soften the
area of white sheen on the
top of the lemon as I felt the
green was too dark and
broke up the surface too
much. Resist the temptation
to keep adding or altering
detail, however, as the
freshness will be lost.
Carole’s art features
in the Royal Society of
British Artists’ 303rd Annual
Exhibition from 20-29 February
at Mall Galleries, London.
http://www.carolegriffin.com