Technique practice exercise for layering patterns, blends, layering shapes:

Compositional Thumbnails Exercise:

Final Composition Painting & Reflections:

 

Positives:

I really like the movement of the final composition! The eye is guided around the painting by the stems in a nice circular way. It’s more thoughtful than my other paintings. The blend of the stems into the coffee cherries turned out well in some sections. I felt brave drawing the stem through the wet red paint. I thought it would be a mess!

What didn’t work:

The pencil lines showing through are bothersome but I didn’t feel I could execute the composition without the guide of the sketch. I’ll have to get a lighter pencil and hand and hopefully more courage too :) The coffee beans were a little tricky and this exercise was good practice for a future work I have in mind. The palette isn’t harmonious, I dove into painting without watching the palette lesson. I was too excited to paint! I could have used more varying shades of the dominant colors as well. The coffee cherries got a little muddy. If I were to do the painting again I would make the orange slices on the outer border a flat shape with an overlying pattern and integrate more strategic transparencies with the cherries. I learned a lot! Thank you, Catherine.