Monday, September 1, 2008

The Process

I began with a graphite sketch/value study of the arrangement:

As a watercolor warm-up, I decided to do a mono-chromatic value study. Problems with the composition were apparent and I adjusted the arrangement a bit.

I used a limited palatte of relatively transparent watercolor: Hansa Yellow, Quinacrodone Red and Cobalt Blue:

I was fairly pleased with this result, but the grayscale version confirmed a lack of darker values. I knew I would screw things up if I tried to darken the pears. I set it aside for a couple of weeks and did other things.

Today I went in and darkened things a bit, as in the image of the post above.

8 comments:

Ann said...

It's beautiful. Thanks for showing all your steps. It is very helpful as I also tend to jump right in painting and this so well shows the value of planning.

susan said...

Your pears are beautiful. That's a great idea about making a grayscale copy...to see where you are missing values. Thanks for helping me! I am going back and trying it out on some of the pictures I was unhappy with. That's one good thing about scans!

Stephanie said...

hum...I don't think there's too much contrast between the pink and orange colors on the pears. I have seen all those colors on pears from the same tree! wonder and I love seeing all the steps involved. I havn't read any books on watercolor or had a watercolor teacher either. I know my art tends to show that lack too. But I am learning as I go. I do have Kate Johnson's watercolor pencil cd and I'm starting to get more comfortable with them and I'm learning from her as I go too. cheers! Stephanie

A Brush with Color said...

You are so good at showing the process here, too. I am TERRIBLE about going right in--but I'm not sure I have the patience to do it the right way! Your final result is certainly inspiring, though! Excellent, Sharon!

Lynn said...

This is an excellent post. Your painting is simply lovely, and your explanations of the process are very helpful.

Kristin said...

Great post showing "the process" the artist goes through. This is great becuase as a newbie I'm never sure how much of this stuff other people are doing...

df said...

This pencil drawing is fantastic! You have expressed the pears' form so well with graphite.

Anonymous said...

I am resisting the temptation to dive into these with a small paring knife and a nice bit of cheese...

very nice.