
Please dowload the attached photo
Master the alla prima wet-on-wet approach by layering thin first strokes, using large brushes for bold brushstrokes, wiping between strokes, prioritizing values and complementary colors for vibrant still life cherries.
Begin the underpainting by applying burnt sienna across the canvas with a two-inch brush, adding water, including the sides, then let it dry while you mix the main base colors.
Mix the cherries’ main color with cadmium red, burnt sienna, cadmium lemon, and blue, then create a warm beige background with green tints.
Plan the background color and arrange the cherries and stems to shape the composition, then begin the first layers of paint, gradually darkening and cooling the background.
Paint the background by thinning with turpentine, applying blue in the upper area, and building color variation with red, white, and pink, while considering light from the right.
Finish the lesson on impressionist oil painting of still life cherries and celebrate your progress. Share your results here or on social media to connect with the instructor.
This is a paint along course where I will cover some basic, beginner friendly techniques to achieve a beautiful realistic still life impressionist oil painting of a few cherries. Still life is a great way to exercise your brushwork and by painting fruit you can expand your skills and learn a lot about lighting and reflections. Since this is an impressionist oil painting, we will focus primarily on how light shapes and colors the subject.
Molding the shape of the cherries with the brush and exploring blending techniques will do wonders for your overall control. This step by step process is all in real-time and there is something to gain for all levels, especially beginners and intermediate painters.
Small paintings like this are perfect for enhancing creativity when trying to achieve that loose painterly look that everyone just loves. That’s why, even though the canvas is pretty small, we’ll be using mainly larger brushes to move the paint around and very rarely the small detail brush. In the end, the painting will appear loose, confident and will deliver great impact.
We will focus on the cherries and getting vivid and realistic colors to blend beautifully with each other but don’t be afraid to experiment and play around with the color variation. Use the palette knife if you feel it helps, use only large brushes if you want and skip the small ones, or paint the cherries a different color. It’s all about having fun.