Summer Festivities 3

Artist's Gallery

Final Touches

What do you think would be a good background color for this scene? Red sure does make it pop. I like how the wash dried with splotchy dark places that look like shadows. Now is the time for details, once the first coats of paint are completely dry. I’ve put in highlights on the cups, speckled the apples, and added texture to the cake. Watercolor is really a tricky medium to work with; it’s so watery that detail must be done a little at a time on a very dry surface. I’d say this summer still life came out well!

Summer Festivities 2

Artist's Gallery

Coming Together

Here come the fruit bowl and tiny cups. I mixed a lot of yellow with the green and grays to make them warm colors. The brick-red brown pot, apricot yellow cake, and scarlet apple are on the warm side too. Even the white cake base is an ivory shade. Warm colors really aren’t limited to that red-to-yellow half of the color wheel; almost any color can be warm if it’s mixed with red or yellow rather than blue.

Summer Festivities 1

Artist's Gallery

Sketching In

I enjoy art almost more than history trips! I’ve been painting for as long as I can remember, in both acrylic and watercolor. Here’s a still life I did in eleventh grade. The hardest thing about still lifes is picking out/arranging the objects to paint! This watercolor was easier since I limited my palette to warm colors and used my own miniature clay sculptures. In this first stage photo, I’ve sketched in the cake, flowers, and fruit.