DEMONSTRATION: STILL LIFE WITH LANTERN
1 The most important aspect of a successful realistic painting is a strong drawing. Transfer the drawing to hot-pressed illustration board as explained on page 4.
2 Paint the background with thinned cerulean blue and cobalt blue gouache. Then complete the rug patterns with straight cobalt blue, red, and yellow—all outlined with ivory black—using a small watercolor brush. Note that the rug is flat at this point—it has no shading or highlights. Because gouache is precise, it is being used in a linear manner in this painting.
3 Airbrush shadows in with a transparent watercolor mix of burnt umber and ivory black. Use watercolor so you can see the detail through the shadows. Shadows should tone down color, but they shouldn’t destroy the detail.
4 Use ivory black, burnt umber, and yellow ochre gouache to airbrush over the globe of the lantern. Then mask off the globe, and airbrush the foreground cloth with a base of Naples yellow gouache and a shade of burnt umber gouache. With a small water-color brush, paint the pattern on the cloth with a mixture of burnt umber and ivory black gouache. Airbrush a cast shadow over the lower portion of the cloth using ivory black watercolor.
5 Paint in the basic colors of each object—except for the apples and pears, which are untouched. These basic colors are darker than the objects will remain. Apply gouache with watercolor brushes. The grapes are underpainted with a mixture of cobalt blue and ivory black gouache.
USING STENCILING FILM
PAINTING THE APPLE When spraying with gouache, use stenciling film to isolate the fruit. Next shade and then highlight the fruit. Spray the apple with red gouache, and then spray the left side with ivory black gouache. Paint the speckles, stem, and highlights with a brush. (See “Making a Stencil” on page 26.)
6 Finish the books and lantern. Then airbrush black watercolor under the upper apple and behind the lower apple. Also airbrush the cast shadows from the pears, and then paint in the leaves and stems. Paint the highlights from the wood over the spattered patina and the lines of the wood grain. Airbrush the grapes to define their outlines. Also airbrush the shadows from the books and leaf shadows in the foreground.
STILL LIFE WITH LANTERN (27" × 36") gouache on illustration board, private collection
7 Finally, paint the pears, grapes, and foreground leaves—in that order. Remember: Always work from back to front. This saves a lot of touch-up work and provides a logical, sequential method of painting.