More Winter Pears...and a tip about Scumbling Painting

      6x6" acrylic            Back & Forth-Pears       (click image to enlarge)

Last week I posted my first painting of these two pears; they were such good models I invited them to stay for two more 'sittings'.  After I finished this today, I even started a third. That'll be about all I'll get from these two...they get bored so easily :-)

Painting Tip: Scumbling.   The blush of red above, allowing you to see the color beneath, was achieved by scumbling. It is an effect you get by dragging a dry brush (with paint but no water or medium) lightly over the another color.  I pre-mixed some alizeron crimson with a tiny touch of both cad. orange and burnt umber.  I gently touched a dry natural bristle brush into my creamy paint mixture so it just caught on the tips of the bristles.  Then, very lightly, I brushed across the yellow (which had already started to dry).  If you think you have too much paint on your brush, dab it against a cloth once or twice first. 

Scumbling is a terrific technique - it works in so many paintings, providing depth, complexity and interest to your piece, regardless of the genre. You can use a brush or cloth. You can stroke or dab.

Caution: if either the brush is too wet (eg. from rinsing or runny paint) or the first layer of paint is too thick and wet, the colors will blend together in a solid opaque patch.)