A Bucket of Berries is the subject of my next watercolor. While looking through pictures taken in the garden last year I ran across this photograph. A bucket of blackberries and strawberries turned on its side on the dining table. Every morning I pick the berries that are ripe in the garden. They are so very colorful and juicy. The photo just looks yummy to me. The berries are coming back to life in the garden and do not seem to mind the fire at all.
Drawing out the shapes I give the darkest background a light blue wash to separate it from where I will need to be careful to keep whites for the bucket.
Next more light washes sort out the blackberries from the strawberries and the tabletop gets a light shade in front.
The darkest surfaces are carefully painted while saving the highlights on their shiny surfaces.
The blackberries are rendered one-by-one on the left side as they lay on the table. It is a gradual berry-by-berry painting, with darkening on the bucket parts to give us a hint of the depths. The darkest shadows on the berries are painted, and with a little water added the bright medium shades are applied. If you are careful enough, the saved highlight will show well.
Reds are added to the foreground area to give a warmer more lively wood texture. The same red tint goes up over the left side of the bucket. Darkening the background alongside the right gives enough depth to show the bucket.