It’s the beginning of fall here in Stockholm, but trees are getting lots of colors already and even more for all the berry trees ! Elderberries, briars and other shrubs are covered with berries in all sort of red orangy colors. And i almost want to paint them all !
Among all those berries, i’ve chosen to paint this one on the left. I’m not an expert in botanic and i might make a mistake but i think they are barberries. If i made a mistake, please tell me in the comment section ! I find the shape and the color of this berry very interesting and i was inspired as soon i saw them. Once again i have no drawing to show you. This style of watercolor don’t need drawing skills as i’m shaping the subject directly on the paper with my brush.
However, i’ve still painted a first version of this image for warming up and in order to have an idea what challenges i could faced. And here you have it on the left. I’ve used quite natural colors and i followed the composition of my reference image. My first challenge here is to bring the attention on the berries. Well, this can be done with some negative painting and with the help of a contraste of color. The second challenge is for me to make the background interesting without taking the lead over my focal point (the berries). So my plan is to paint a second version with more luminosity to it, with berries as a focal point without loosing myself in details.
Fall berries in video
SUPPLIES :
Brush : Escoda Aquario nº18, Raphaël le “803” nº2.
Paper : Canson Héritage rough
Colors : Viridian (Schmincke), Quinacridone gold (Daniel Smith), Permanent alizarine crimson (Daniel Smith), Winsor red (Winsor & Newton), Scarlet lake (Winsor & Newton), Ultramarine blue (Daniel Smith), Burnt sienna (Schmincke).
And here you have the final painting (click to enlarge) :
