Bananas

Banana 1, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 2, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 3, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 4, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

This little set is the first artwork I've made since mid October.  It was time to get going again. 

I wanted to play with a split complimentary color scheme, so I used a yellow subject with a red-violet background and a blue-violet background, and a blue subject with a red-orange background and yellow-orange background.  I was really nervous about making blue bananas!  I worried that they would be unrecognizable.  My banana browned significantly between when I started the set last night with Banana 1, and when I finished it this afternoon with Bananas 2, 3 and 4.  I started feeling like my artwork actually smelled like bananas by the time I was done.  I think the smell helped me make them more natural, along with the browning. 

I first did a watercolor wash for each of the paintings.  Then, I sketched my banana quickly in pastel and completed and under painting with Prismacolor Pencils, using complimentary colors (violet for the yellow bananas and orange for the blue ones).  I also sketched in some detail with dark brown, raw sienna and burnt umber colored pencils.  I went over the work with pastel, then added more detail once again using colored pencils.  The shadowing also began with colored pencil, but ended with pastel.