Saturday's apple

Another study of the same apple I painted a couple of days ago, this time reversing the light & dark in the background, trying to make the cast shadow warmer closer to the apple & cooler & lighter as it gets further away, softening edges etc... Painting on oil painting paper isn't so easy, but I used it because it's inexpensive for studies like this.

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Comment by Jessica Futerman on July 6, 2014 at 6:50: Ningning, I'm glad you like them!

Comment by Ningning Li on July 6, 2014 at 3:50: Jeessica, I love your apples . At the same time I am laughing. I like apple too, almost everyday and same kind but different shapes like yours here.

Comment by Lori Ippolito on June 11, 2014 at 5:39: thx Jess & Michael..will think about that warm/cool idea..so much to learn and think about! all good :)

can't wait to get back to painting to get this stuff out of my head and try to put it into practice..portrait drawing should be finished by the weekend ( I hope)..then back to the easel to catch up on my lessons:)

Comment by Michael J. Severin on June 10, 2014 at 23:51: Hi Lori. On your backgrounds, think first in terms of ..Do I want the BC to be light or dark, warm or cool? and that depends on what your dominant harmony is ..warm or cool. At least you will know what side of the wheel you will be on ..and that is a start. Jessica;s BC is light and cool. Interesting to see what would happen if it was a dark/warm BC? I prefer dark backgrounds when doing still life ..like the old master stuff. One thing for sure: The background is what it is, the background ..no need to stress. I could sit here all day a type out formulas, but that would be utterly useless to you because every painting has different challenges to be worked out. I try to keep my BC very simple because I am still learning still life techniques myself ...so I don't get too "cute" with the background ....keep it simple.

Comment by Jessica Futerman on June 10, 2014 at 22:15: Thanks for your comment, Lori! As for the background, I don't know much about it; still life is a new area for me! If you look at my previous red apple painting, check out what Michael suggested, which I applied here & it made a big difference. I think the idea is to contrast the lights & darks, which makes the objects stand out. And use gradation, to make it more interesting & realistic. In this one, I mixed together some of the colours I used for the apple to get the background colour, though I experimented with various shades before choosing this one. I first tried a complementary colour to create more contrast, but didn't like it. It's all experimenting for me still! Maybe other people can add their ideas?