hello
In this tip video I’d like to show you how I go about painting the SUPER
complex juicy
insides of a fig. As usual, I’m referring to a photograph I’ve taken myself.
My drawing needs to be a contour drawing where I map out the main boundaries
between
areas of different hues (for instance browns and pinks)
and different tones or values. The issue here is that we have a LOT of detail to
try to capture
I didn’t draw it ALL out, but I did draw a lot,
and the more detail you draw out, the easier the painting is.
Also, the more you enlarge the photograph, and your painting,
the easier capturing this detail becomes too. So firstly I laid down a very pale
wash
over each area of a different hue - except for those areas which I thought might
need to be as light in tone as the paper. [magnifying glass shows areas left unpainted]
Next I go straight in with my darkest tones right in the centre with a really
small brush so I have plenty of control.
The paint needs to be really thick for this.
The next thing I want to do is to get my head around what is going on with all this detail,
and to make sure that I don't accidentally paint over an area that
should be left
pale, or should be a different hue, so I choose a pink mix that is darker than my
first wash,
but not very dark and I start to apply this to all areas that at this hue and tone
or darker - the process of which actually started show me
what's going on. I then change this
mix to match the hue of the orangey area.
Next I go in with a darker mid tone mix, just a little lighter than my very
darkest mix
and apply this to the areas that need it. I then dilute this mix
and alter the hues within it as I work on the slightly lighter midtones.
It’s important to use a really vibrant red here so that the fig will have the
juicy glow that we're after.
Now that I have darkened the darker midtones I can see that my lighter tones are
too light,
so I use a slightly bigger brush and I darken them
with a pale wash. I leave only the brightest shiniest highlights.
Once that's done and the dark skin is painted
[magnifying glass shows the thin line of skin], I can see I need to darken the darkest tones again
so I add another thick layer to the areas within that need it.
I then work to darken areas of the darker midtones and
lighter midtones again, having the effect of adding more detail as I do so.
Once the darker whole fig is painted painted [magnifying glass shows the whole fig],
it shows me that the darkest tones should again be darkened in some areas,
so I go through the same process a third time for all the different tones,
continuously altering my hue mixes as I do so to make sure I capture
all the different hues, from pinks to oranges to browns and reds.
By carefully observing my reference photo,
I add to the fine detail I laid the foundation for with my drawing.
And spending the time to get the balance between the light and dark tones right
is what gives this complex centre it’s shiny,
juicy 3D look. It's a time-consuming process
taking in total a good few hours, but if you’re like me and find
and find painting detail both therapeutic and rewarding, I totally recommend you have a
go at
painting the insides of a fig!
a fig! If you’d like to paint both the insides and outside of this fig,
I have a full, real time step-by-step video tutorial where I show you how to
do it in thorough detail.
available via my online school.