Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 4
We only have a couple more weeks to work on our project but the pace does start to pick up from here as we get into detail. If you aren't at this point yet, please try to work on your's at home so you aren't too far behind.
This week I stared on the detail of the basket. Be sure that you have your reference photo where you can refer to it often because it is the best source of information to finish this up. I used 3 different values of the light tan, if you don't have a very light tan you may need to ad white to what you have and lightly blend. There is a medium tan color and a darker, more orange tan color as well as the indigo blue that I use for the shadows.
The orange tan can be used on the inside of the basket and in some of the outside shadow areas again, look at the reference photo BEFORE you start adding color.
Really LOOK at the basket weave BEFORE you start adding color. The reeds or straw that is used has a shape as it is woven around the basket. Some appear as lazy "s's" others as "U's" on their side. Your chalk marks need to mimic these shapes to make your basket believable. It is important to remember that all of your marks are just quick shapes be they highlights or shadows, it is okay to start out slowly as you make these marks just don't labor over them. I lightly blended with a color shaper to soften transitions between colors and shapes but tried to leave as much untouched as possible at this point.
Once I had the basket pretty much under way, I started on the apples. I wanted to shape them a bit better, clean up edges, reinforce dark areas and start adding some lighter colors.
For the red apples, I used the dark cool red, the medium and lighter reds I used last time as well as the indigo but I also added a light orange color to start on highlights. The green apples were the same greens (dark, medium and med. light) plus the indigo but to make them lighter still I added a light yellow. Again I was getting my shapes better, making some a bit bigger, cleaning up edges but I did blend in most cases.
Last but not least, I started working a little on the table. I added more colors like light green, light blue, some light gold, any of my lighter colors but I did not blend these colors. I used my indigo to suggest the divisions between the slats of the table and started a bit of the detail, I will do more in our next class.
This is where I left off in class, if left to my own devises, I could probably finish this up in our next class but I don't want to lose you so it may take an extra week for the class. Be prepared to work, keep painting and I will see you in class.
Project: Apple Turnover Revisited Week 3
I started this week by finishing the background around the basket and table. I wanted it to look like out of focus bushes so that the back ground didn't distract from the subject.
I used 4 different colors: 3 greens - a dark, a medium and a light green - and my dark indigo blue which is a dark gray/blue color as opposed to a bright blue. If you only have a bright blue, add some dark brown as well.
The first thing I did was to add the dark green and blue together. When adding the colors or when you are blending, you aren't trying to create leaves as such, you are just trying to get the feel or suggestion of leaves. Look at the reference photo to see where the patches of shadow are in the back ground, that was roughly my guide. Next add the medium green into all the empty spots that are left and when you finish with that, in spots add some of the brighter, lighter green and, again, look at the photo to find the lightest areas.
Only after I have all my color down do I blend the colors usually starting in the lighter area and working to the darker areas. If I need to add some color to make it lighter or darker you can do that as you blend, just be sure to lightly blend the different areas together some so thee are no hard lines or distinct shapes, at least not yet.
Next I worked on the table. I need to get the table close to finished so I can start working on the basket and apples.
First I wanted to be sure that the under painting for the table had enough dark colors so that highlights would show up. In pastel, we work mostly from dark to light and I felt my table needed more darks and more color. I added some darker blues, greens and reds by streaking it on then lightly blending so you could still see the streaks but they had soft edges.
When I had the under painting where I thought it should be, I added tome lighter streaks for the grain of the wood using a peach, a light blue and a light gray.
I had realized when doing the acrylic version on Monday that I needed to add some lines for the slats of the table so the table would make sense to me, I used my indigo blue to suggest the different slats of the table to see if I was liking what was happening and when I did that, I could see I was headed in the right direction. The lines may need to be redrawn because I don't think I got the spacing right and I still have a bit of work to do but having them in there right now isn't going to hurt anything.
We had several people playing catch-up in the last class so this is where we ended the class.
I hope that you can get your own painting to this point before next class so we can move on and start getting into some of the detail.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Pastel Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 2
This week I finished under painting my apples. The red apples were 2 values of red: and alizarin crimson which is a dark, purplish red and a medium cad red color as well as an indigo blue which is a dark gray/blue, if you have it otherwise use the darkest blue you have. The indigo is a color I use a lot in my shadows so you might want to add the color to your collection when you are shopping for supplies.
The green apples were 3 values (dark, medium and light) of green. I have a very dark blue/green, a medium yellowish green and a light yellowish green plus the indigo in the darkest shadows.
On both the red and green apples, I first laid down my colors then blended with my fingers starting in the light area and working to the dark, following the shape of the apple. Look at your reference photo to see where the light and dark values are and the different shapes of the apples.
Remember that this is just the under painting. once we get all the under painting complete we will start the detail, this is just the start, not the finish.
Next I wanted to under paint the table. I need to get the table in before I finish my apples so the apples look like they are sitting on the table. However, I really am not fond of the light gold table the apples are sitting on so I am going to use my artistic license and create a more rustic looking table like a old redwood type table. That is why it is called a "reference" photo: You just use it for reference for color or design or lighting but you are not enslaved into following the photo to perfection, you have the right, as an artist, to change whatever you want to make it into your vision.
I take lots of photos of very strange things just so I have other reference photos when I wan't to change things and need so study to get the look I am going for such as these images I took of an old bench I had before it fell apart. While I want a warmer color than the silver gray, I want that rough and worn look of the wood.
I used 3 different colors of a warm brown to start my table top. The first layer was a dark, reddish brown almost a dark brick color. That color I filled in the table top pretty solid. Next, I used a similar color but it was several shades lighter in value and streaked it on rather than going over the whole thing again. Last, I used a very light warm red again streaking it on so I have 3 values of color showing. I was also adding these colors very horizontal to the table looked flat. Your strokes and the way you blend matter in creating the ting you are painting.
I then lightly blended these colors together with my fingers again following the grain of the wood. This blending also fills in the areas that the chalk might have missed as you were laying it on.
Be careful as you blend around the apples mostly so you don't lose your shapes. My white chalk lines are still visible at this point but will disappear in the coming weeks.
This is where I left off in class. Next time I will be working some more on the table and adding the background bushes and at that point our under painting will be done and the detail begins.
so keep painting and I will see you in class.
Pastel Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 1
I started my project on a 19 x 14" gray, sanded paper, mounted to foam core. While this isn't necessary I do suggest that you have some support to attach your work to even if it is temporary, because it will give you a good solid surface to work on.
As many of you found out, working larger is a better way to work but getting that larger design on the paper isn't as easy as it sounds. While I strongly suggest that you practice your drawing skills no matter what medium you end up working in, there are other methods to get a design on your paper such as using the grid system, or a projector or finding a computer program such as the two listed in Lerri's Links in the side bar (Poster8 for PCs and PosteRazor for Macs) that will enlarge your design to the size you need using regular 8 1/5 x 11 printer paper to print it out. Depending on the paper, you might be able to transfer the design using either a light box or, what I do, tape it to a window with good sunlight then tape you paper over that for a poor man's light box. You may also want to try transfer paper but be sure that it is the non-waxy kind. Whatever way works for you, this sketch is your guide, it doesn't need to be perfect and you can make needed changes as you work but it does give you the basic idea of where you are going with your painting.
Once you get your design on your paper you have to figure out where you are going to start. For me, I usually start with the subject of my painting when I am working in pastel so I can make adjustment to size or shape to my subject with the background color before I head into finishing up my painting. This is just the way I work, other pastel artists may work a completely different way so don't think that anything I tell you is set in stone, everything is ope n to interpretation.
The under painting for the outside of the basket I found several colors ranging from a middle burnt sienna color to a medium gold, using the darker sienna color in the shadowed part of the basket, switching to a lighter sienna or gold color, then to the medium gold color. You are going from the darker color to the lighter color to give it shape, same with the handle. In the darkest part near the bottom of the outside of the basket, I also added some dark blue (indigo, its a gray blue), then blended all the colors together. Wipe your fingers often if you go from dark to light.
Be sure to have your reference photo in front of you so you can see where the light changes on the basket.
The interior of the basket was done with a medium dark, cool brown, the middle gold color and the indigo, then blended together.
I am not working on detail yet or any final highlights or shadows, I am just getting my under painting in which is the foundation of my painting. I can, and probably will, make changes as I go along but this under painting is probably the most important part of your painting, don't try to skip it or you finish piece could look flat.
Next, I started under painting the apples. I was using a dark, cool red for the shadow parts of the apples, like an alizarin crimson, and a medium red for lighter areas, and the indigo for the darkest areas between the apples. I then blended the colors together.
All I am trying to do here is to establish shapes and suggest shadows, this is not the finished form of these apples by a long shot this is just the base where I start to work from over the next couple of week, these apples will (I hope) look good enough to eat.
One thing about the indigo, I really like it to add dark into shadow areas rather than black. Black, across the mediums, is a color killer though I do occasionally use it in pastel if I have no other choice, then I use it carefully. I would rather mix to a dark color because it has more life and it doesn't dull the colors around it. Indigo is a blue/gray color but you can also use any dark blue with maybe a bit of dark brown for a similar effect.
I only managed to get one of the runaway apples done before end of class and yes, I am outside the lines but not to worry, I will fix it later. Again, this was done just using the 2 reds and the indigo and looking at the reference photo but you can already see shape and that is important. The red delicious apples have a different shape than the green Granny Smiths and that is important.
This is where I left off in class and where I will pick up when we meet again. I don't like to do things at home because I don't what anyone getting lost. We have the hard part done, getting the drawing on the rest should go quickly.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
