Today’s watercolor experiment:

The subject of today’s experiment is yet another bunch of bananas. I decided to take the bananas outside and place them on the patio table. The sun was bright and even though it only 60 degrees, it was hot. Here is a photograph of my banana set up.

The sun is quite a different light source than my desk lamp. First of all, the edges are crisp and the body of the shadow is nearly one tone. My desk lamp uses one of those new fangled spirally bulbs and the shadow cast by it seem to be from two or more light sources.  Below is yesterday’s reference photo:

See how soft the shadows are?

I liked being outside but I felt that I had to work fast. Did I mention it was hot? I had to get the banana colors right before they ripened before my eyes.

I used the same paints I used before: lemon yellow; cadmium yellow deep; permanent green #1 (Holbein); burnt umber; mineral violet. I also used a bit of lamp to darken the shadows.

I think these bananas are a lot more vibrant than my past efforts (The Wild Bunch, More Bananas). Although repetition is the key to success, I think that ‘Hasty Banana’ will be my last bunch for a while.

One more thing: my hat is off to the plein air painters. For a short time after I came out of the sunlight, I was practically blind. I do like the crisp shadows, though.