#16: When Life Gives you Lemons

... make lemonade!

6" x 6" canvas paper

Inspiration:
Will Kemp's Art Tutor online tutorial, "Still Life Lemon"


What I like about the painting:

• I love the challenge of working with only two colors (raw umber and cad yellow, light)
• It felt great to accomplish this painting in less than an hour
• The impressionistic style Kemp demonstrates allows for a lot of flexibility
• It was interesting to paint almost the entire lemon in pure yellow, and then go back with the raw umber to add tone to it.

What I might do differently:

• Again, my colors are darker than I intended - I need to lighten up!!

What I learned:

Kemp's focus was to start painting with the darkest darks and then the lightest lights. He suggests squinting to help notice subtle shading. From there he completes the background.

Apparently not all Raw Umbers are created equally! Kemp's painting had grey tones. My Raw Umber has more of a warm brown tone.
I did not complete this painting. In the past I would have gone back to work on the shadow of the lemon. I might have tried to lighten up the cut surface of the lemon. I would certainly have tried to improve on the background. I decided that I had the opportunity to practice what Kemp suggested, working with the darks and the lights first. I didn't need to 'finish' the lemon, or be more exacting. I was pleased with the outcome. I practiced a set of skills. Now... it's time to move on.