LESSON XI - Part 1: Sketchbook & Color Exercises for Fruit & Veggies

After a trip to the grocery or farmer's market, try these exercises . . .



1)  Imagination/ Observation/ Memory -- Use three separate pages for this exercise.


On the first page, IMAGINATION, draw a few pieces of fruit, and a few other random objects, just from your imagination, without looking at anything.  Use pencil . . .

On the 2nd page, OBSERVATION, look at the fruit and other objects, and draw them in pencil, adding shading . . . 

Now, put away the fruit and other objects, and on the next page, MEMORY, draw them from memory . . . 

2)  Still Life Drawing, Two Ways  -- Set up a simple still life with a few pieces of fruit in a bowl, on a dishcloth or tablecloth.

On the first page, draw a contour drawing of the set-up in ink . . . 

On the 2nd page, draw the same set-up -- this time, with pencil and shading . . . 

3)  Blind Contour -- Do contour drawings of fruit, in pencil -- but WITHOUT LOOKING AT YOUR PAPER.  Only look at the fruit you are drawing . . . (don't expect this to be pretty.)

4)  Quick Color Study, Two Ways -- Set up a simple still life in front of a window -- an orange, two apples, and a little vase, for example.  Paint this set-up in two ways:

"Draw" the still life with a brush and orange paint.  Then, paint it . . . 

On a separate scrap of watercolor paper, paint it a 2nd time.  This time, draw it first in pencil, quickly.  Then paint it quickly and directly, using very bright colors.  If you want, set a timer for 15 minutes and try to finish the study within that time. . . 

5)  Pencil Value Studies -- Draw some fruit, in pencil or charcoal.  Add shading to build up the values and add form . . . 

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The secret to happiness (according to something I read on the Internet) -- is VEGETABLES!  I guess you have to actually eat them in order to truly be happy, but we're going to draw and paint them -- and we'll see if that works, too.

6)  A Bunch of Celery -- In your sketchbook, draw a bunch of celery, in pencil.  Add shading.  Draw two different views of the celery, on the same page . . . 

7)  Peppers on a Plate -- Put several different kinds of peppers on a plate.  Draw a bird's-eye-view of the peppers -- a contour drawing in ink.  Do a wet-in-wet painting for the color.  (You can either do the painting first, and then add the ink contour drawing; or draw it in ink first, and then add the color.)

8)  An Ear of Corn  -- Do a contour drawing in pencil, of an ear of corn -- either fresh or use Indian corn . . .