I had a really hard time setting this one up. I wanted to direct light from the top left of the composition to the bottom right and really emphasize the vertical orientation. Since a lot of the composition is in the dark, I wanted to soften the edges in the dark parts and sharpen them in the lighted areas. Finally I wanted to emphasize the highlights on the fruit to show the path of the light.
Despite the fact that it took so long to set up and paint, it was fun painting this one. The Chinese text was really challenging to draw and render because the light caused a subtle change in value, so it wasn't entirely black in some areas.
Please feel free to comment.
