Monday, August 29, 2011

'Reversed Pear"

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"Reversed Pear"
6 x 6 in
Oil on Canvas Panel
I wanted to do another version of these pears this time having one reversed with the other facing the viewer.  The skin of the pears have so much different textures to them, its neat trying to decipher it and translate it onto a painting.  Their colors are also enjoyable to paint they have such a subtle transition from one color to another, from yellows to greens and to even burnt umbers its fun painting those blends.  
I wanted to apologize for being away for so long without posting anything, the day after posting "Grandfather" I got into a really bad bicycle accident.  I went over a curb and the front tire completely came out of my bike, I landed on the road hands first then hitting my ribs pretty bad.  I was really lucky I didn't break anything I did scrape up my hands and feet pretty bad, my ribs have given me the worst pain out of it all.  That accident occurred on a Tuesday and I left out of town on Wednesday until yesterday, so you can imagine how much i've been wanting to paint.  I'm recovering well from the accident my ribs  and left hand are still pretty sore, but I do feel better each day.  I cannot express how happy I am today to finally get back into painting, I tried after the accident on Tuesday to paint but I was in to much paint to do so.  Now I truly I mean it its time to get back to the painting easel and start producing, its been to long.  
I started with a dry brush approach for the drawing stage using a bit of raw umber on the brush.  After the drawing is completed I stated the background using cerulean blue, naples yellow and titanium white.
I then started on the first pear stating the general colors first then turning the form with their values, at this stage I'm not concerned in adding the darkest and lightest values just a middle value of the overall colors.  The colors I used in the general stage are viridian, cad.yellow light, yellow ochre, and raw umber.   Once thats complete I state the darkest values with their specific forms, I can really start going into the fine details at this stage with the darks.  Having the general stage done first allows me to go into the darks much easier and handle details with more precision.  The additional colors I used for this stage is cerulean blue and burnt umber.  
Once the darker values are completed I started on the lighter values including the highlights, the only additional color I used were titanium white.  I repeated the same process with the second pear once the first pear was completed, first stating general colors and turning the form with their values.
I also use the same colors as I did with other pear.  The first picture shows the darkest values being painted in, the second picture shows the lighter values after the darker values were completed.  You can also see that I started to hint where the cast shadows will be placed, this allows me to judge the values of the base with the pears and also gives a stationary look to the pears.
Once the pears are completed I start on the wooden base, I do the exact process as I did with the pears state the general colors first not worrying about the darkest and lightest values.  Then I stated the darker values with their specific forms, the colors I used were cerulean blue, burnt umber, raw umber, titanium white, cad. orange, and naphthol red.  
After the darks were completed I stated the lighter values with their specific forms and took the painting to a finish.  As stated before I'm really happy to be back painting there's nothing like it, its truly what I was meant to do.  Thank you for stopping by and viewing, I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did!







1 comment:

Sharlette White said...

Found your site through Dan Edmondson. Sorry about your bike accident and I hope you get well fast. Those bike accidents are not fun, When I was a young girl, I went over the top of my handle bars and slid on my Lip and hands. Was bruised up for several weeks and never forgot to respect the bicycle. Needless to say now all I ride is the Stationary Bike.

Nice work Jonathon. I for one am just getting back into painting after raising kids and finally retiring to the golden years of my life. I loved painting at a very young age and always had plenty of opportunity with wonderful programs in our public school system. If I had any advice to give someone young and starting out it would be to follow your dream. I always told my children to find something they love and go for it. You have an outstanding gift, use it, pursue it, and stay with it. My dad use to tell me that I had a gift but if I didn't use it I would lose it. He was right so now I am embarking on a quest to find it again...