Sketchbook–Quince Fruit

We have an old gnarled Quince tree (Cydonia oblonga) in our garden that produces an abundant crop of fruit each year.  We propped up the main branches recently lest they become so bowed down with fruit that the tree finally topples over.  Quince trees have been in cultivation for millennia, in fact as a Greek legend tells it, Helen of Troy bribed Paris to give a quince to Aphrodite as the prize in a beauty contest, which started the Trojan War. Although our quince tree isn’t that old, we think it was part of an orchard that grew here before the neighborhood was built so it’s probably been around for at least a century.

The gnarled tree presides over our patio. I did a quick ink wash sketch with my pen and water brush to visually describe the form of the tree.

Shading Yellow

Yellow fruits and flowers are notoriously difficult to paint because the shading easily becomes too heavy and dirty looking, so I approached the fruit with some trepidation.  Quinces are so big and so yellow, that it could go seriously wrong.  I looked back at my botanical sketchbook where I had pages of experiments with shading yellow, and reminded myself what not to do!

I decided to use the technique of shading with the opposite color on the color wheel, which would be violet.  Winsor Violet seemed too strong a pigment, so I went with the delicate Daniel
Smith Cobalt Violet (PV49).  Just right!  And the granulation from the cobalt added nicely to the slightly bumpy and fuzzy texture of the quince.  After several light washes, it was getting too peachy color so I added the palest possible wash of cobalt blue in the deepest shadows to bring the color back to straight yellow. I finished with some washes of the beautiful and ever so useful, Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold to give the quince that golden ripe color.

The fruit is bright deep yellow and very fragrant. It has an astringent taste so is not good raw but makes tasty jelly.

The value of a sketchbook is to try out different techniques, knowing that perfection is not the aim–its for learning and having fun! I wouldn’t use cobalt violet in every situation for shading yellow, but it’s a good tool in my toolbox, especially when the granulation adds to the desired effect.

This is part of the Oregon Botanical Artists sketchbook exchange, so now it’s time to send the book along to the next person in the rotation. I am in the middle of another big project, but enjoyed the opportunity to take a break, experiment and have some sketchbook fun!