Hi Mary Jo- these apples are gorgeous! The view on the right is hard to do and you have done a great job! The patterning is amazing and really plays up the apple’s forms. Oddly enough I don’t see much toning that would traditionally establish the form. The cast shadows are way too dark and I would lighten them considerably! With a cast shadow that dark I would also expect toning on the apples to have dark toning and you don’t want that. You may find when you lighten the cast shadow that you will then have to add some dark tones to the apples.
Doug, Thanks so much for your critique. The truth must now come out. After I finished the yellow apple I noticed that it was too big on the right lower quarter. I tried to erase it but that didn’t work. My next idea was to use a shadow to reduce the size of the apple. It worked but I had to go dark on the part that I was hiding. Then I thought I would have to put a shadow under the other apple of equal value. The reason I didn’t put more toning on the yellow apple is because I thought I should stop while I was ahead.
Prior to doing these apples I followed the suggestions in Wendy’s book and did a practice page to test embossing and colors for the apples. It helped tremendously because I learned what not to do with both apples
I worked on trying to retain highlights, establish form and get measurements and color right. I haven’t been been very effective at getting reflective light around the edges yet.
Instead of reworking this, I will do another apple drawing without such intense dark shadows.
Thanks again, Mary Jo
Hi Mary Jo- these apples are gorgeous! The view on the right is hard to do and you have done a great job! The patterning is amazing and really plays up the apple’s forms. Oddly enough I don’t see much toning that would traditionally establish the form. The cast shadows are way too dark and I would lighten them considerably! With a cast shadow that dark I would also expect toning on the apples to have dark toning and you don’t want that. You may find when you lighten the cast shadow that you will then have to add some dark tones to the apples.
Doug, Thanks so much for your critique. The truth must now come out. After I finished the yellow apple I noticed that it was too big on the right lower quarter. I tried to erase it but that didn’t work. My next idea was to use a shadow to reduce the size of the apple. It worked but I had to go dark on the part that I was hiding. Then I thought I would have to put a shadow under the other apple of equal value. The reason I didn’t put more toning on the yellow apple is because I thought I should stop while I was ahead.
Prior to doing these apples I followed the suggestions in Wendy’s book and did a practice page to test embossing and colors for the apples. It helped tremendously because I learned what not to do with both apples
I worked on trying to retain highlights, establish form and get measurements and color right. I haven’t been been very effective at getting reflective light around the edges yet.
Instead of reworking this, I will do another apple drawing without such intense dark shadows.
Thanks again, Mary Jo
Way to go, Mary Jo. Your studying really paid off. Beautiful.