Painting Banana and Red Apple

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Establishing color relationships

When the sketch is complete, add the first layer of color. For this exercise, start with yellow, red, blue, and burnt umber and mix the other colors from them. Use a number 12 round brush to apply the first layer of color to each object. When applying color, begin with the lightest value and move to the darkest. Mix blue and yellow for the green tones in the banana and mix red and yellow for reddish-orange highlights on the apple. Add a little burnt umber to yellow for the brown areas on the banana and use unmixed burnt umber for the stems.

The banana's first layer of color is the lightest yellow on the banana. Compare the value between each of the objects. Do the colors of the different objects relate to one another the way you want them to?

Tone and Detail

After the color relationships have been established, add more detail to the apple, the banana, and the cloth. Look for the high and low value points. The highlights will remain more or less untouched, so you must build to your darkest points by adding detail. Ask yourself, are the darkest and lightest points established? Is the color rich enough? Add layers of color to the darker areas until you are satisfied.