From the Artist: My daughter gave me this bowl filled with lemons from the tree in her yard. I'm teaching myself to paint and have limited experience, but thought I'd like to try this project. I painted inside with the light bulb almost overhead, slightly to the left. I'm easily confused by where lights and reflections should go. In real life the white highlights don't look as 'standing out' as they do in the photo. I think the bowl is too 'fat' and the background too much blue but I wasn't sure what to put there.
Also, should shadows be painted in first or after you've painted their subjects? I understand about using different colors in shadows but am finding it tricky to get their shapes and depth of tone correct when I paint them first, and seem to make a mess of everything when I paint them last!
From the Painting Guide: I like the background, which being similar to the bowl creates a unity to the composition and allows the bright yellows of the lemons to dominate. As to where the lights and reflections should go, this needs to be judged from observation, not as an intellectual exercise. I suggest doing a series of small sketches in which you work with three tones only -- dark, light, and the tone of the paper as the midtone. It'll look rather abstracted rather than realistic, but what you're wanting to record is where you observe the darkest tones and the lightest.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Painting Shadows: The shadow of the bowl seems to me to come to too sharp a point, and then to not be in a consistent direction to the shadow of the fruit next to it.
I believe the key to painting shadows is to try and stop seeing it as "subject" and "shadow", but rather to try to see everything as "subject" and then dividing what you're trying to paint up into multiple shapes of specific colors and tones, regardless of whether it's subject or shadow. Don't treat them as two separate entities.
If you start with the shadows and try to get them finished before you paint the subject, it's hard to judge whether the tone is dark enough, or perhaps too dark. What I'd do is to block in the areas of darkest tone first, then most of the midtones (usually most of "the subject"), then refine the shadow areas and highlights in relation to the midtone. (You could start with the lightest tone.) So you paint most of the subject and shadow at the same time. Take a look at this short painting video, to watch how the artist develops the two together.
Also, should shadows be painted in first or after you've painted their subjects? I understand about using different colors in shadows but am finding it tricky to get their shapes and depth of tone correct when I paint them first, and seem to make a mess of everything when I paint them last!
From the Painting Guide: I like the background, which being similar to the bowl creates a unity to the composition and allows the bright yellows of the lemons to dominate. As to where the lights and reflections should go, this needs to be judged from observation, not as an intellectual exercise. I suggest doing a series of small sketches in which you work with three tones only -- dark, light, and the tone of the paper as the midtone. It'll look rather abstracted rather than realistic, but what you're wanting to record is where you observe the darkest tones and the lightest.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Painting Shadows: The shadow of the bowl seems to me to come to too sharp a point, and then to not be in a consistent direction to the shadow of the fruit next to it.
I believe the key to painting shadows is to try and stop seeing it as "subject" and "shadow", but rather to try to see everything as "subject" and then dividing what you're trying to paint up into multiple shapes of specific colors and tones, regardless of whether it's subject or shadow. Don't treat them as two separate entities.
If you start with the shadows and try to get them finished before you paint the subject, it's hard to judge whether the tone is dark enough, or perhaps too dark. What I'd do is to block in the areas of darkest tone first, then most of the midtones (usually most of "the subject"), then refine the shadow areas and highlights in relation to the midtone. (You could start with the lightest tone.) So you paint most of the subject and shadow at the same time. Take a look at this short painting video, to watch how the artist develops the two together.