Red Apple Study, Pastel

Red Apple Study

life

7" x 9"

Cretacolor Pastels Carre' and Terry Ludwig Pastels

Aquabee Hemp Draw multimedia paper

Back to pastels and color today! I tested my Cretacolor Pastels Carre' first to see if they washed out with water for an underpainting by underpainting an apple. Then finished it using the same pastels dry and a few accents with Terry Ludwigs, also did the background very lightly with Ludwig Violets and a couple of tints from my first Mystery Box. 

I had fun with this. It's centered unlike most of my paintings, but it's just a simple study of a single object and I like how it came out. It reminds me a little of Charlotte Herczfeld's tomato studies. She's a big influence on me. If I'd properly followed her method I should have defined the shadow side in the underpainting witha  cool color, green or purple or blue, and the warm side with orange. Instead I just shaded between orange and yellow for brightness and followed light and shadow by value and hue - it worked but I'll be doing it again with the cool underpainting to see the difference sometime.

I also accomplished a little in terms of organization. Some time ago I bought two Derwent Pastel Rolls to keep my 72 Cretacolor Pastels Carre' in a container system that made them usable when I go out. Today, I broke all the sticks and rearranged them so that each roll has all 72 colors in its 36 slots. Two pieces per slot will let me bring these out with me on my garden excursions and any other outdoor painting I do. It's a handy little roll instead of an oversize box with an awkward styrofoam tray that made it hard to take the sticks out.

Cretacolor pastels wrap ready to go!