"A" is for apple...

I hadn't intended to do a series of paintings showing fruit on the branch -- but sometimes these things just take on a life of their own. "Orchard Offering" (shown in the banner, above) sold quickly -- along with its mate, "Sun-Kissed." With both of these paintings, the outlining technique added a dimension  that seemed to heighten the effectiveness of the painting.

So, today I worked on another version of apples. I'd planned to outline the image after it was complete. But when I got to that point, I gave considerable thought, instead, to adding a sky-blue background. I thought it would be an interesting contrast with the color of the apples and the leaves. But, not wanting to make a hash of the painting, I backed away from the sky option. Not sure it would have worked.

But I still wonder... And now I'm thinking of purchasing some clear acetate that I can paint on and use as an overlay, to try different effects.

After sketching the design completely using an HB lead, I painted the branches, leaves, and apples. As with the previous two painitngs, this was a multi-step process. The apples alone represent at least 8 separate glazes of color: scarlet lake, sap green, new gamboge, quinacridone gold, and winsor violet. The branches and leaves also required their separate glazes of burnt sienna, gold ochre, sepia, and sap breen, shadow green, quinacridone gold, and winsor violet, respectively. Since I had to allow each wash to dry before adding the next glaze, this project that took most of the day to complete. Here are details showing the step-by-step progress.

After about 4 washes...

After 6 washes...

The finished painting is 11" x 9." It has an additional 1/2" border all around.
It's done on #300 Arches paper.

"All About Eve"  SOLD