DEMO
I
n my experience, working directly
from life is the most satisfying way
to paint fruit. The many variations
and changes of colour across the
objects can be acutely observed,
which is not really possible if working
from photographs.
As artists, we can suggest these
minute changes of colour across
the surface by adding cool or warm
pigments wet-in-wet. By using thismethod, the form and three-
dimensional aspect of the fruit can
be brought out quickly and naturally.
This painting was completed over
two afternoons at the same time of
the day so that the light and shadows
were the same. My still life set-up was
positioned with natural light from one
side, so as to maximise the range of
colour and shadows I would be
working with.Carole’smaterials
- Paper
Saunders Waterford
Heavyweight 638gsm
cold pressed watercolour
paper, A3
•Brushes
Sable brushes, sizes
0, 3, 4 and 8
•Paints
Cadmium Red, Winsor
Orange, Chrome Yellow,
Aureolin, Olive Green, French
Ultramarine, Permanent
Mauve and Burnt Sienna, all
Winsor & Newton Professional
Water Colour; Rose Madder
Hue, Winsor & Newton
Cotman Water Colour
•4BPencil
1
I lightly drew in the
objects using a 4B pencil
on Saunders Waterford
Heavyweight paper. This is
a fabulous paper, almost like
cardboard, which doesn’t
need any stretching and can
take lots of water without
buckling.
Using a mix of Winsor
Orange and Cadmium Red,
I start to paint the orange
with a size 8 sable brush.
I made it quite wet so that
other pigments could be
added while it was still wet.
I have added some
Aureolin Yellow towards the
top edge and a dark Olive
Green and Ultramarine mix
into the wet area at the
bottom to suggest shadow.It is important that when
adding colour to wet areas
that the pigment on your
brush is fairly dry, otherwise
the extra water will push
the pigment away from the
required area creating a
“treeing” effect.2
The whole area of this
first orange was now
covered with hints of colour,
apart from a few small areas
where the white of the page
was left showing through.
This area acts as the
highlight on the fruit.
As long as the surface is
wet you can continue to add
drops of pigment, which will
merge and blend with
existing colour.3
I repeated the process
with the second orange
and one of the clementines.
One of the most important
aspects of this demo is
learning where, when and
how to work wet-in-wet and
when to work onto dry paper.
Here the two fruits on the
right have dried paler than
they were before, whereas
the orange on the left is
still wet and so the colours
appear more vibrant.
Remember to take this
into account.1 2
3
Top tip
Be bold with your first
layer of paint as the
colours will become
paler when they^
are fully dried