Which do you like better, the colored version above or the one in blue “pencil” below? These are lumpy lemons from the interior of my lemon tree where they’ve been growing unnoticed to nearly the size of oranges, plus other random stuff on the table as I found it.
Below is the original “pencil” sketch in blue. I accidentally drew this with Procreate’s hard airbrush instead of my usual favorite sketching pencil, the Brush Up Ultimate Pencil (didn’t check what brush it was set on until it was too late).
Lumpy Lemons drawn with “hard airbrush” in Procreate on iPad
Lemons, Hydrangeas and a Bottle Cap, more random table stuff. Procreate on the iPad.
A sunny morning, two bowls of lemons and a vase of hydrangeas. What could be better than sunshine and happy summer colors. The series of digital still life paintings I’ve been posting were done last summer while my kitchen was being remodeled and I was using my studio as my living space so it was easier to paint digitally than on canvas.
It also meant that during the remodeling months from June to October my life was so crazy I didn’t really have time or mental bandwidth to post to my blog, hence finally playing catch-up now.
Lemon, Candy Dish and a Cosmetic Swab, oil painting on unstretched canvas, 16×12”
I had so much fun painting this hanging lemon and grandma’s candy dish and the previous hanging lemon oil study below. Also scroll down for the fun Procreate color studies and sketches and WIP photos. I know the candy dish is wonky but I decided I like the wavy distortions. I’m not sure which I prefer more, the iPad color study or this painting (which is available at my DPW gallery here.)
I’d love to know which you prefer: iPad painting or oil painting? And here is the little hanging lemon painting I did earlier:
Hanging Lemons, oil on Gessobord panel, 7×5″
This little painting came first; a fun experiment in composition and hanging things from the wall to paint. The painting is available at my DPW gallery here.
Original color study sketch in Procreate on the iPad. Print is available upon request.
In some ways I prefer this chunky quick study more than the oil painting. I am working towards finding a way to apply what I’ve been doing on the iPad to my oil paintings. Next up on the blog are a series of more of these iPad sketches.
I think I’m finally making a little progress with my oil painting. I’m starting to understand about color temperature and how to make transparent darks (which you absolutely have to protect just like the white of the paper in watercolor). I couldn’t figure out how to get the little highlights on these lemons but maybe I have to wait for the paint to dry and then use a dry brush to sweep across it. Or maybe I could do it with a knife? I tried painting it on with a brush but just kept smearing and muddying the paint. Any suggestions?
In July, I did these lemons on a different green glass plate and …
My friend Judith told me about a learning theory that divides the stages of learning into four stages:
Unconscious incompetence .(You don’t know how much you don’t know and sometimes have beginner’s luck that makes it seem like it will be easy to learn).
Conscious incompetence. (Now you’ve realized how much you don’t know and how bad you are at the thing you’re trying to learn, and how many people are way ahead of you. You may have the knowledge or information about HOW to do something but not the skill to do it.) A lot of people give up at this point. This is where I’ve been for past couple months.
Conscious competence. (You understand how to do it, you’ve practiced and built some skill, but it doesn’t come naturally. You have to think through each step but you can do it and a basic level.)
Unconscious competence. (It just comes naturally and you don’t have to constantly think through each step.)
Mom was half-right when she said “practice makes perfect.” I know that when I strive for “perfect” I only end up miserable. I think the saying should be “Practice makes Progress” and right now progress feels great after being mired in Conscious Incompetence for months!
Jana Bouc, Artist 
