"Papaya"

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"Papaya"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Papayas are so delicious and I cannot believe I have not painted them till now. The texture and shape attracted to me to these guys, I hope with this painting I am able to show what drew me to these delicious fruits.  I also wanted to remind everybody that the voting is still going on, I really appreciate everyone who has voted for me.  If you are interested in voting for me to become the next Daily Painter just click here and all you have to do is click on 5 stars.  Its that easy, I am so blessed and excited for this opportunity, thanks again.

I started with the usual dry brush approach no mediums just a little of raw umber on the brush.  After establishing the drawing which I took it a bit further than usual so I can state the shadows and have more of a blue print, I then stated the shadows on the first papaya.  The mixture I used was ivory black, and viridian, I am taking it to as close to a finish that I can.  The only reason I cannot take the shadows to a finish at this stage because when I start laying in the surrounding colors it will effect the values and chroma within the shadows.

Then I started to lay in the mid tones or values, I used viridian, cobalt blue, and cadmium yellow light.  When stating the mid tones or values I saw that my shadows needed to shift in chroma and restate the darks.  Then I stated the lightest values which where naples yellow, cadmium yellow light, and a bit of titanium white.  I am constantly going back and forth from the shadows to the lights and adjusting accordingly so, making sure the right values and chroma's are in the right spots and are blending well.  I usually try to take it to a finish at this stage before moving onto the next papaya.

Then I started on the second papaya, again with the same mixture in the darks.  This area was a bit difficult to paint, black is a hard pigment to cover in one passage in an opaque fashion.  It's such a transparent paint, then to add reflective colors within it makes it a fun challenge.  After taking the darks to a close finish I moved onto the mid tones, again using the same mixture as the first papaya.  I am laying down the correct values in their right spots and also making sure the form is turning.

I then added the lighter values using the same mixture as the other papaya, at this point I am taking it to a finish making sure the darks are working well with the lighter values and the reflected lights.  Then I start on the wooden base, I used ivory black, cadmium orange, and cadmium red light.  I worry about the darks first before moving onto the lighter values, making sure to add details as well.

When the darks are looking well I then move onto lighter values and do the same, take it all to a close finish and make sure its working well with the whole painting.  I then filled in the background, I used naples yellow, cerulean blue, and titanium white.  At this stage I am softening the edges of the base and papaya where they meet with the background, I am also going back into the papaya and seeing if I need to add any more information to finish the painting.  This is the finished picture, it was a good challenge and fun to paint textures and reflective lights in the papayas, now onto the feast of these wonderful fruits! Thank you for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed!