Saturday, July 10, 2010

"Red Onion"

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"Red Onion"
5 x 7 in
Oil on Canvas Panel
I've been wanting to paint this red onion for a while its been laying in our kitchen just starring at me every time I come through and get some food.  Finally I got to paint it i've painted it before a while back but wasn't satisfied with the finish, the textures on the skin makes it deceiving to paint but very educational too.  The subtle colors that bounce in the lighter areas are as tricky as its textures but like I said its also very educational and makes you learn more about painting.  
I started with my usual dry brush approach to the canvas which lets me draw as if I had a pencil, after the drawings established I stated the darkest values in the onion by using ivory black, permanent rose and cadmium red.
I then started to add the middle dark values and also went back into the darker values and added the details taking it to a finish, then move on to the lighter values and taking those to a finish.  Its important to take it to a finish in each stage so you can move on without thinking of going back and doing more work.
I added the lighter values of the onion using cerulean blue, quinacridone magenta, and titanium white once that was done I moved onto the base and started with the darkest values and added the details.  I used ivory black, burnt sienna, and cadmium orange and when that was done I started on the lighter values using cerulean blue, burnt sienna and titanium white.
I then added the background after the base was done using cerulean blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  I then went back into the onion and added some highlights with a fine thin brush and made some edges sharper, overall nice little painting to produce after a big task of painting the basil plant.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing my painting hope you enjoyed!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is fantastic!! I have some of my own paintings on my blog. With practice I hope I can get as good as this one day.

Eva-Maria Ruhl said...

I am really enjoying your blog. I love seeing the progress. Quite different from my own approach. Love the paintings!!!
Eva

Lokelani Forrest said...

Great rendering of a difficult subject. I have a friend who is quite successful in the art world and she won an award with a painting of a red onion. You may want a look. Her website is http://www.camille-engle.com.