Apple and cheese

At another art class with Jackie Binns, Steyning, West Sussex we practiced the use of watercolour pencils in various ways - and spent a lot of time drawing apples.  Back at home I did some more work to consolidate what I had learned.  This drawing of a pottery cheese bell and (of course) an apple, was completed using dry watercolour pencils direct onto dry paper with no prior graphite pencil sketch.  I gradually built up layers of lightly applied colour and when I was happy with the drawing, used a moist brush to blend the colours, occasionally drawing into the wet colour with a dry pencil to define finer details. Once everything was dry, I lifted colour from a white pencil with a wet brush and then painted it on to add reflected areas of light. Finally, I repeatedly 'flicked' a wet brush across the tip of both a light and a dark watercolour pencil to create the splatter effect across the drawing, which I feel adds a painterly quality.

Comment: I used Derwent watercolour pencils and chose Imperial Purple to prepare an outline sketch and to lightly block in a base for the darker areas of this drawing.  I like using purple as a base for creating darker colours, shade and and shadows as I feel it adds warmth and depth.  The sunlight falling on the area was quite strong so colour was reflected onto the objects from the magazine beneath, and I tried to represent this. Even though it was on the darker side, away from direct light, the pinky-red colour on the left was strongly reflected onto the cheese bell, as was the bright blue onto the apple.