When I moved to Arizona, I expected to see cactus everywhere, but I had no idea that I would also see endless amounts of gorgeous citrus. They infuse color, fragrance, and overall happiness into an otherwise flat desert landscape. It’s no wonder that they’ve greatly influenced my paintings lately. Grapefruit, oranges, lemons - you name it - have all graced my studio desk over the past few months - and there’s no end in sight. I knew I had to teach a class all about painting citrus, and how to incorporate flat lays into your artistic process.

Class Outline:

1. What is a Flat Lay?

We will go over what is a flat lay, why they're useful, and the steps to creating an aesthetically pleasing arrangement.

2. Getting to Know Our Color Palette

We will make color swatches of our warm colors so we know which paints we want to use during our project. We will also make swatches of color mixes and use a pencil to note which colors were used.

3. Painting Whole Oranges and Orange Halves

We will learn how to paint whole oranges and orange halves in our sketchbook or practice paper. This includes painting shadows and highlights, and how to achieve a 3D effect when paintings spheres.

4. Painting Greenery

We will briefly go over painting two types of greenery.

5. Class Project: Making a Flat Lay and Painting our Flat Lay

We will combine all the skills we learned previously into a final class project where we create our own flat lays and paint them.

When you are finished with this class, you will know how to paint watercolor oranges and greenery, how to create a stunning and cheerful flat lay, and complete a class project that combines everything we’ve learned. These skills will give you the tools you need to compose future flat lays and citrus paintings with confidence.

Nicole McGarity

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