ACRYLIC PAINTING 101: Lesson 14B

In todays video we are bringing together all that we have learned in the previous videos that are part of the ACRYLIC PAINTING 101 series.  We will be painting our final lemon.  It took me about 3 1/2 hours to do this 13x18 cm (5x7in) painting.  

I used Cadmium Yellow Medium value string for this painting as I did in the colour study!  Check out how to make the value string in Lesson 9: VIDEO/ BLOG

Draw a grid on your board of 3cm (1 1/4in) very lightly with a pencil. Using a kneaded eraser to remove enough of the graphite to ensure that the lines are faint, so that you can barely see them.  There will be just enough graphite left to be able to see but not have the lines show through the yellow paint.

​Begin to draw the elements using a very loose raw umber.  I am using my favourite brush for this: Princeton Dakota Flat 2. I put registration marks where the lemon sections intersects with the grid. 

Now we are nearing the end of the drawing. Take a few minutes to let the raw umber dry and using the kneaded eraser remove all the lines as best you can.

On to the first pass of paint.  Remember this is where we just get the information down to the best of our ability.  This  will help us when we do the next layer of painting.   When you come for the second pass then decisions about value and so forth are easier to see what is correct and what needs tweaking.

​Building up the subtle shifts of value on the lemon slice.  As the light comes through the lemon slice there is a lovely glow

To keep it really simple I used white paint for the background , which fits since I photographed the lemon set up on white.

On to the second pass  on the lemon where we shift the values and correct the shapes that we put down during the initial pass. 

Tweaking the edges as the painting nears completion.  

 The final highlights. And the lemon is completed!  

"A taste of Lemon", 13x18cm (5x7in) Acrylic on Masonite Board.

The 2 handouts can be found HERE