Cherries and folds of fabric — Melbourne Art Classes

PAINTING PROJECT - CHERRIES AND FOLDS OF FABRIC

Firstly you will see here

1. A few different references that were used to plan this artwork (they both have different light sources which is a part of the compositional practice

ie. adjusting one to the other)

2. A Compositional Planning page for this project

3. Step-by-step progress photos

30x40cm canvas, canvas board or canvas page/sheet
Phthalo blue or Phthalo turquoise, Ultramarine blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Magenta or Alizarine crimson, burnt umber, titanium white, red transparent oxide (or make an orange with magenta and yellow, then neutralise with a tiny bit of Ultramarine blue), water mister bottle, old towel, paper towel, Saral transfer paper(or other)
hog hair flat brushes, 2 cm and 1cm and 0.5 cm learn more about brushes here
synthetic flat brushes, 2cm, 1cm, 0.5 cm, liner brush

STEP 2 - UNDERPAINTING IN DARK GREENISH-BLUE (I mixed Pththalo blue with a touch of Burnt umber), let dry (if you are working on a mixed media page or sheet, once dry after the initial under-painting, you can dampen the back, place between to clean sheets of paper and flatten overnight. This allows you to work on a less buckled paper surface) which is always more pleasant.Otheriwse stick to canvas board or stretched canvas which is less fiddly and also takes the acrylic paint better, This project on canvas paper was undertaken in Zoom video class during lockdowns as were most of the step-by-step projects we did during that period.

STEP 3 - Drawing (transfer from your A3 paper drawing with transfer paper or draw onto the background in white charcoal), the cherries come in later

STEP 4 - using a ‘string’ of one colour, the fabric folds are modelled, in 3-4 thin layers (white, several shades of light to mid-tones and a dark shade of grey-blue, made with ultramarine blue, a little burnt umber, then white to tint ).

Use one synthetic brush for the dark tones, and one for medium, work always in small areas, blending the two areas together to avoid lines between values (except on sharp edges), keeping the surface workable with your water spray mister (from about 30cm away). Use the smallest flat brush to work pure white into the mid-tone areas where there is a lighter tone.

NB. Sometimes you will need to do 3 or more thin layers in acrylic to get the blended areas all as smooth as you would like (different to using oils or watercolours)

STEP 5 - Burnt umber is painted on the table and under the table. Then using liquid white on a liner brush , a slightly grainy texture is added to the table and a lighter plane is added to the front edge. Your small flat brush can be helpful in blending these streaks in.

STEP 6 - It has all dried, and here below, you can see a partial glaze, on the right side it has a thin glaze of turquoise. Glazing has been used since the days of the Renaissance, mainly in oils, but in acrylics, a nice transparent pigment can enhance, smooth out and transform an area (without covering it up).

STEP 7 - After taking this progress shot, the rest of the fabric folds were given the glaze too.

STEP 8 - a transparent layer of neutral orange (red transparent oxide) is glazed over the timber

STEP 9 - Some warm light is scumbled into the right background area

STEP 10 - The bowl is blocked in with the mid-tone neutral orange and white, burnt umber is blocked in on the inside of the bowl (not that we will end up seeing much of that, but it makes a good backdrop for the cherries.)

STEP 11 -More work is done on the bowl (which I chose a pale tint of yellow-orange for to fit with my planned harmonious scheme). While it was still damp, I blended in some white into the highlighted area and I also indulged myself with a little reflected light on the bowl from the folds of the fabric closest. See that in the next shot (ok, that was a bit fanciful, but I like it!) Later I give it a tiny scumble if very pale turquoise which you can see in the final image., )

I then drew in the cherries, adding a pair on the table as a leading centre of interest taking the viewer up to my bowl of cherries

STEP 12 - I mixed a violet-red (Ultramarine blue and Magenta), a dark green (Ultramarine and yellow), & a red-orange (magenta and yellow). I mixed a little of the first two to make a neutral blackish colour to block in between the cherries. Then I covered each cherry shape with the red-violet, then slowly blended in the red-orange(with the smallest flat brush) into the lit side (using the same light source as the background, (rather than the light source from the cherry reference). The modelling of the cherries will be done over a few layers. In the final touch-up, I blend in a tiny bit of white to the middle of the red-orange a(and you can see I implied some reflected light onto the sides of some cherries too).