Try blurring some of the edges of the fruit where it touches the bowl or another apple. The Soft Blender Stump or other Blender variant should do it. Erasing will be a problem if you used the Paint Bucket to create the background color. Instead, paint with the paper color, using one of the Pastel or Chalk variants. Most of the white highlights in the photo are too strong, so add some yellow strokes to tone them down a bit. Small details can be enhanced with the tiny Pencil Sketch Cloner, but some parts of the drawing, such as the crisp shine on the lip of the bowl, are much easier to create without cloning.

[Figure 2.21] How do you like THEM apples?

Figure 2.21, the finished drawing, includes all of the techniques discussed here. The cast shadow of the bowl was made with a very large pastel in just a couple of strokes.

You’ll return to cloning techniques in future lessons, but I just couldn’t wait to introduce you to this powerful set of features.

What’s Next?

Keep practicing your tonal drawing and crosshatch techniques, with or without the aid of Clone Color. There are source photos on the website that supports this book to serve as subjects for drawing and painting at whatever your skill level. I also encourage you to go to the market and buy some nice fresh produce to work with. Make your own photos, but even better, set your hand-picked fruit or vegetable on a surface next to your computer and draw it live! Aim a spotlight on one side to get dramatic highlights and shadows.

After every lesson or practice session, choose your best couple of drawings and print them. That way you’ll have tangible evidence of your work to hang on the walls. Over time you’ll be able to observe your skills improving. Examining a print of your drawing is also a good way to evaluate it for possible changes. Most desktop inkjet printers can create high-quality output. To enhance the fine art nature of your image, use special paper or other media designed for your printer. High gloss heavy weight photo paper might be ideal for some projects, canvas or watercolor paper for others (See Appendix A for resources).

Rhoda Draws, the artist formerly known as Rhoda Grossman, is the author of numerous books and video tutorials on the creative uses of Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop. She has taught basic drawing as well as digital painting and graphics techniques at several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she has earned a reputation for lively and humorous presentations. Rhoda began using digital media in 1990 and uses pixel-based software for commercial illustration and cartooning, as well as fine art projects. She has successfully transferred traditional figure-drawing skills to the computer and brings her MacBook Pro and Wacom tablet along to life drawing workshops. As "Rhoda Draws A Crowd," she is a pioneer in using digital media for live caricature entertainment at trade shows and events. Visit her website at www.rhodadraws.com.