Glennda Field Fine Art: Cherries, Cherries, Cherries

July is cherry season in the northwest and nothing is better tasting than Rainier cherries. So to the studio I go to paint the inspiration for today. You guessed it, CHERRIES!

@ copyright Glennda Field

I'm teaching a watercolor workshop tomorrow for Clark College in Vancouver, Washington and this cherry painting will be my demonstration for the day:

Step One: Misket the areas you want to keep white. The highlight on the right leaf, the highlight on the cherries and a few of the stems that would get direct sunlight.

Step two: Put some warm Cadium yellow as an under painting on the cherries. This will help create the glow.

Step three: Begin painting the leaves with sap green mixed with Yellow Ochre to create a warm, earthy green. You may want to drop in some Manganese Blue, Ultramarine Blue and a little Alizarin Crimson for depth.

Step four: Glaze a mixture of Sap Green and Yellow Ochre/ Cadium Yellow to add another dimension to the leaves and to darken the value in a few places.

@copyright Glennda Field

Step five: Rainier Cherries use 3 to 4 colors of red, Cadium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Rose Madder Genuine, Vermilion plus Cadium Yellow. Remember to leave the highlight on the cherries where the sun hits them directly.

@ copyright Glennda Field

Step six: Put a 5 x 7 frame around you piece to see how it looks as a painting. This will help you see if some of the values need to be checked and to see if any more needs to be done to bring you paintng up to your standards and your vision for the piece.

I added the hint of a 6th cherry on the lower right, splattered some Cadium Red over the leaves and jucied up a couple of the cherries by adding water and then dropping in some of the reds.