Level 1 Painting Tutorial

Beginner painters learn to use acrylics to paint fruit in a practical, hands-on introduction today. Follow a detailed supply list—paper towels, a wax-coated paper plate, various brushes, a water jar, and basic acrylic colors like crimson, yellow, blue, brown, and white on 16x20 canvases.

Outline basic shapes with a round brush and local color, adjusting lines. Mix oranges and browns, add red with blue for natural hues while painting kiwis and apples.

Begin with a thin underpainting to establish shadows and space. Layer colors with thin, transparent layers, blending blue into red for depth, and keep edges crisp.

Finish the oranges with layered whites and yellows, add dark orange shadows and light highlights, and use dabbed textures to recreate orange peel divots and lighting differences.

Finish kiwis by layering browns and blues for under shadows, blending wet-on-wet to build 3-D textures, plus highlights, green shading, and seeds for a painterly, realistic look.

Finish painting the apples with thicker, more opaque color, adding highlights and shadows, curved brush strokes for a dimensional contour, and blend a painterly background to balance the composition.