Student Success Stories – Apple in Light & Shadow

Below is a gallery of students’ work inspired by the apple painting in How to Paint Light & Shade in Acrylics. If you’ve completed the tutorial, email me, and I’ll add it to the page!

Janet Harris
Janet was inspired by the brushstrokes in her first version of the apple. They reminded her of mountains, so she reimagined the painting. Sometimes, the greatest source of inspiration comes from the process of working itself.

Mari Soroka

Francis Foley

Max Glibbery

Martin Bourne

Christina

Susan Cole

Reed Sjogren – Reed painted this when he was 8! fab brushwork

Lynn Linder

Jim Nicholson

Lynn Wise – there is a real sense of solidity with the strong form shadow and confident brush strokes.

Lisa Cooney. – great sense of light on the apple and lovely textural background

Jenny Bealey – love the variety of brushstrokes on the surface of the apple.

Jo Tondeur – This is Jo’s third-ever acrylic painting!

Amy Accurso

Kiri Harris

Helen Shotton

Tracy Reed

Lydia Verdeny

Terri Fey

Judy Wrightson

Jennifer Cantell

Paul Karstens – Lovely layered colours within the apple surface, and the red on the side of the apple has been nicely judged to bring a warm glow to the colours, nice work!

Ana Avanzini – Introducing the purple hues gives a new perspective to the composition, the flash of the ground colour in the background helps to balance out the colour scheme.

Catherine Lake – Love the combination of the type with the painted surface! the strong yellow, grey and white palette balances well together, it’s reminiscent of a cubist piece.

Judith Shore – Brilliant colours and a sense of light falloff. The stalk and flat top on the drawing really helps to depict the realism.

Luciane Oliveira – It feels like a world of texture exists within the apple! The smoked surface of the grey separates the main object and the intricacies of the apple surface.

Tony Musick – Fabulous expression with the background, the image has a graphic quality, reminiscent of layered printmaking.

Tamara Zurunic – with the simplicity of the background the shape of the apple comes to life, the surface has a layered watercolour effect to it.

Sue Callahan – This piece has such delicate handling to it, with the colours flowing into each other so nicely. This was Sue’s third-ever painting!

Sue Mahy – This piece has such delicate handling to it, with the colours flowing into each other so nicely. This was Sue’s third-ever painting!

Myrna Richards – The balance of tones really helps the highlight come to life and the lighter grey hues in the background help to bring the form forward to the viewer

Monica Walsh – Love how the ground colour has become an integral part of the composition, and the apple feels spotlit

Mary Tabor – Such energy in the brushworks, the cast shadow looks fantastic, I feel there is a whole scene happening around the edges of the frame

Margo Armstrong – Love the colours in the apple, the painting has managed to capture a lovely surface quality and the details in the apple stalk add to the realism of the piece

Joe Pellerin – Fantastic observation in the form shadow, a really well-observed painting of the subtle transitions of the light.

Jerry Malec – the subtle shifts in colour across the apple surface brings that three-dimensional quality to the piece, and the ‘flat top’ observation on the drawing of the apple aids in the realism of the ’round’ apple

Janine Von Zeuner – Fabulous textural qualities and impasto marks, real confidence in the brush handling.

Wanda Jones – nice use of the cast shadow shape to ground the apple and give us that sense of a strong directional light source. This is the first time Wanda has worked on a toned ground.

Inna Balanica – This apple has such weight to it. By combining the cast and form shadow the apple sits solidly on the table surface within the depth of the scene.

Ina Jones – there seems such depth within the surface of the apple, it has a real energy to it

Emily Willy – this piece has a great colour balance between the greys and the muted green on the apple. The subtle red around the apple lifts the colour and brings the subject towards us, lovely job.

Derek – amazing drawing and sensitivity in creating the angle of the form shadow. The delicate dashes of colour on the right-hand side really give us that apple skin texture.

Dana – This is Dana’s first acrylic painting ever! lovely sense of form, the cast shadow looks great and a real vibrancy in the colour palette.

Claudia – This is one of Claudia’s first attempts painting with acrylics! Great to see how the different layers have all come together and the light hitting the apple works brilliantly.

Barbara Ende – Love the broken edge quality around the apple and the play of different textures. This was Barbara’s first painting, since then she’s worked on larger scale pieces, landscapes and has been selling her works, great work Barbara!