Apple - brush work, colour and light + step by step

Apple painting - I aimed to paint an apple study as I wanted something to practice light and contrast with and this exercise seems to be the go to for artists learning. However the images I could find were a bit boring and fake. They were all just Photoshopped bright red apples.

So in the end I just painted my own apple and aimed to put new tones in. Fruit studies can be a bit boring and basic to look at so I wanted to make an effort to make it presentable. I put thought into giving the background nice warm tones and to then have the surface the apple is sitting on feel colder. This gives a nice mix of tones.

I started with a basic apple line drawing. I wanted to paint the apple with minimal brush strokes so starting with a line drawing helped me map out where the lights and shadows should be placed.

Starting with the basic darker tones on the top layer I then brushed in the mid tones under it. I kept my brush strokes light to let some of the background come through giving me more colour and tones into the final piece.

I then worked on the highlights and added in more orange and a hint of yellow around these areas. In contrast I added purples and blues into the shadows.

I added a few more loose details that I felt necessary but then stopped myself to maintain the original  brush work and painterly style, not wanting it to become overly rendered.