365 Paintings in 365 Days #49

Strawberry And Ewer

Oil on board. 5x7 inches.

Learning Points:

Yay!

1. Shadows and highlights I am much happier with the strawberry. I did a lot of wet on wet layering until it was right. I added burnt umber to the shadows, and cadmium red and white mix (pink) to the highlights.
2. Reflections. At first I had the reflection much brighter. It overpowered the ewer and took away from the strawberry. So I grey it down by putting a mix of cadmium red medium, curulean blue, and naples yellow...very lightly over the top.
3. Air. I just love putting air around these on a dark background. I paint the dark background in last just up to the edge and then with the brush cleaned, I blend up to the edge.
4. Wood grain. It really is easier than it looks. I put yellow ocher first, then raw umber on the top, then drag a stiff bristle through to show the lighter color below. Then add a few highlights if needed.
5. Shadows of different textures. The same with this one as the last. To make it look right I really had to darken those shadows. I used burnt umber.
6. Painting the ewer which is silver plated, I looked at how the light and shadows were and mixed multiple greys. There is a blue-ish grey, a pink-ish grey, a green-ish grey and a neutral grey.