A Fruit Filled Colourful Mixed Media Workshop with Jenny Muncaster

Throughout the workshop, Jenny demonstrated how familiar fruits, including bananas, grapes, apples and pears, can provide endless opportunities for creative exploration.

By looking closely at their shapes, colours and textures, participants could see how simple observations form the foundation of an interesting still-life composition.Jenny also explored examples of fruit illustrations, showing how different approaches to colour, line and mark-making can completely transform the appearance of a subject.

It was a brilliant reminder that even the simplest objects can inspire colourful and expressive artwork.


Understanding Colour and Experimenting with Paint

One of the key focuses of the workshop was exploring colour and how it can be used to bring paintings to life. 

Using a colour wheel as a reference, Jenny demonstrated how different hues interact and how carefully chosen combinations can create depth, contrast and visual interest.

The demonstration explored colour mixing, paint application and the effects that can be achieved by allowing colours to blend together.

Rather than relying on a single colour, Jenny incorporated a variety of tones into her fruit illustrations, helping to capture the natural variations found in their surfaces.

This approach encouraged experimentation and showed how unexpected colours can make artwork more expressive and exciting. 


Bringing Fruit to Life with Texture and Layers

As the session progressed, Jenny turned her attention to creating individual fruit studies.

Bananas were used to demonstrate how layers of colour and darker marks can capture the distinctive textures of their skins. By building up different tones, the illustrations began to develop a more realistic, three-dimensional appearance.

Grapes provided another opportunity to explore colour and form. Small, repeated shapes were gradually built into clusters, with variations in colour helping to create highlights, shadows and depth.

Jenny also explored apples, pears and berries, demonstrating how colour could be layered and blended to create rich, textured surfaces.

It was fascinating to see how each fruit required a slightly different approach, offering plenty of opportunities to experiment with brushwork, mark-making and colour combinations.

Creating a Colourful Still-Life Composition

With the individual fruit studies explored, Jenny moved on to bringing everything together into a larger composition.

A decorative blue fruit bowl became the centrepiece of the artwork, providing a striking contrast against the warm yellows, reds, oranges and purples of the fruit.

Jenny demonstrated how the bowl could be developed using expressive brushstrokes, decorative patterns and different shades of blue.

Gradually, the fruit was arranged within the composition, with overlapping shapes helping to create a sense of depth and balance.

The finished artwork was bursting with colour and personality, combining observational drawing with expressive painting techniques.

It was a fantastic example of how traditional still-life painting can be given a fresh, contemporary feel.


Bringing Still-Life Painting into the Classroom

One of the great things about Jenny's workshop was how adaptable the techniques are for students of different ages and abilities.

Still-life painting is a brilliant way to encourage students to look more closely at everyday objects while developing their understanding of colour, shape, texture and composition.

The techniques demonstrated offer plenty of opportunities for classroom experimentation, including:

- Colour mixing: Exploring complementary colours, tonal variations and unexpected combinations.

- Observational drawing: Studying the shapes, proportions and details of different fruits.

- Layering and blending: Building up colours to create depth, shadows and interesting textures.

- Expressive mark-making: Experimenting with different brushstrokes and techniques to create unique effects.

- Composition: Combining individual elements into a balanced and visually interesting still life.

Students could begin with simple studies of individual fruits before developing more detailed compositions, experimenting with colour and texture as their confidence grows.

Encouraging students to explore their own artistic interpretations can also help them understand that there's no single correct way to represent a subject.