FALLEN POMEGRANATE, PART 6

Quite a few glazes of color were required to bring the painting to its finished state. I mostly used Raw Sienna and Yellow Ochre for these with a little Burnt Sienna for the decaying branch. I slightly deepened the small areas of green and worked a little on the pomegranate. It also got a cast shadow across the middle which helped define the form. Some of the darker shadow areas were also worked on, trying all the while to get an overall feeling of uniformity. Within the leaves is a feeling of depth, light and shade, and I tried hard to keep the painting bright without resorting to any gouache.

FALLEN POMEGRANATE, PART 5

After a few sessions, I managed to complete most of the shadow areas. I'll still have to go back and darken a few parts and also add a little more of the finer details. Since most of the painting will be shades of ochre and brown, I add in a complimentary green to a few places - namely the two leaves at the top and a few blades of grass on the right. Keeping these colors to the periphery helps against too much visual distraction - I don't want too many things competing with each other. These greens are also somewhat subdued. The fallen branch with the shadow on the top right makes an appearance but I'll still have to darken it a bit. Next I'll glaze warmer tones all over the painting - what you see here is basically the underpainting so expect to see a dramatic change from this to the next!

FALLEN POMEGRANATE, PART 4

At this point, I have enough information on the leaves to be able to leave them for awhile. I decide to work on the pomegranate itself so it was just a case of laying on washes of color, then glazing over those when they were dry. After a few rounds of this, I felt I was getting close so left that for awhile and started deepening some of the shadow areas. I often work like this - that is trying to get an all-over feel as I find it better to bring things together as a whole rather than completing one section then going on to the next one. Doing it this way seems to be easier for me, especially as to how the painting is developing.
Most of the left side of the work has been completed in the pic above (at least as far as the values are concerned). Next I'll bring the right side up to the same level as the left then add more color.

FALLEN POMEGRANATE, PART 3

Working all over, I lay in most of the shadows - this does take quite some time though as I have to work out which parts are lit by the sun and which parts fall into shadow. Now though, at least I can get a better idea of the painting and how it is progressing. I'll still have to deepen the tone further on most of the darker areas but for now I have a definite way forward. It still looks quite abstract at this stage but soon leaves, stems and the pomegranate will start to appear.

FALLEN POMEGRANATE, PART 2

Here I have tentatively started laying on some sepia watercolor paint indicating the shadow areas and trying to get form into some of the leaves. I'm a bit hesitant at this point and progressing really slowly as I'm not sure how the best way to do this! Should I do all the monochromatic shadows first or go with shapes and color? I add a warmer wash of color to some areas trying to see how this would affect the overall feel but I'm leaning towards doing all the shadow areas first. Because there is so much detail, hopefully doing it this way will help simplify things and allow me to work out what goes where.

FALLEN POMEGRANATE, PART 1

Finally a post on this sadly neglected blog! I have been travelling almost continually since Jan so have actually had little time at home or in the studio. Anyway, I'm back for now so onto the first recently completed painting.
While visiting a good friend who has a fair collection of my work, I was taken by a study I did some years ago of a pomegranate resting amongst fallen leaves. The pomegranate tree was next to my home on Lamma Island, Hong Kong and I had painted its fruit a few times. One day while passing I saw where a pomegranate had fallen off the tree and rolled onto some leaves. I did the study there and then but always wanting to do a larger version. In the studio I selected a half sheet of Arches watercolor paper then set to work with a soft pencil. The end result of a day's work is shown above. Next I'll stretch the sheet and start laying on some washes of paint.