More about:
Fruit Collage
WHEN
2023
MATERIALS
Oil paint on stretched canvas
DIMENSIONS
36in by 24in
BACKGROUND
For this painting, the challenge was to do a contrasting base painting between the initial base painting and the final. Another objective was to create a collage of fruits and vegetables as the reference.
WHY
The reason the contrasting base painting is an important thing to learn is because of the benefits it has while painting still lifes. By adding this extra layer, every element of the painting is able to get the same effect as an effective classic base painting. Rather than just picking a generally contrasting color for the whole base, I went and painted each section as it would look if the colors were inverted.
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
Unlike my other collage inspired pieces, rather than finding photos first and then deciding how to arrange them, I created some sketches before. First, I took some pictures of fruits and vegetables to see what materials I had to work with. Then, rather than going straight to Photoshop to put them together, I started sketching some possible ideas. Once I had an idea of what I was looking for from my sketches, I then went into Photoshop to create a reference from my pictures that resembled my favorite sketch.
IDEATION
SKETCHES
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ed out t
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THUMBNAIL AND COLOR PALLET
Once I picked which sketch I was going to move on with, I created my collage. A big factor while creating this was making sure the colors contrasted well, for this reason I was able to edit colors and placement to make sure they worked well together.
After I created a collage I was happy with, I decided to experiment with some contrasting colors. To do this, I created a color pallet that would show how different colors reacted to each other and learned how I could use them to my advantage.
DESIGN
BASE PAINTINGS
The first base was done for the same reason as all others, to show a rough outline as well as some shadows and highlights. For this reason I decided to go with the color green because it didn’t matter as much since there was going to be another full layer on top to serve as the contrasting base.
The next base layer was to help add more depth to the final piece. By painting the reference thumbnail in complete contrasting colors before the final, I am able to allow some of the contrasting colors to shine through the final making the shadows deeper. A great example of where I got to experiment with this technique was during my color pallet in one of my previous steps.
FINAL PAINTING
For my final layer, it was time to go into the original colors from the thumbnail. I proceeded with this step like I would after any other normal base painting but was conscious of using the contrasting colors to add more depth.
One area where you can see this is in the orange. By letting hints of the blue shine through in the shadow areas, rather than there being a gray cast, it looks like it belongs more to the orange itself.
I found the paper areas in the back the most interesting throughout this whole process. Unlike the fruits, the shadows are very harsh with the paper which made them the perfect starting place to experiment more with letting the contrasting base shine through before moving on to the more textured elements like the orange.
REFLECTION
I feel that although this project was challenging, I did a good job taking my time to get used to this new method rather than just jumping in. By taking the time to experiment with the colors and seeing how they react with each other, I was able to start painting with an idea of how the layers would respond to each other. If I had not done that, I am sure the outcome wouldn’t have been as good. I found this technique very interesting and will definitely be using it in the future for flatter subjects such as these fruits.
I am very happy with the way this piece turned out, however looking back I wish I spent some more time coming up with different thumbnails before settling on this one.