"Heirloom Tomato no.3"

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"Heirloom Tomato no.3"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Hi everyone well today was pretty crazy in the middle of painting these studies and teaching I'm glad I was able to paint this heirloom tomato.  This is the third time painting these guys and I gotta tell you that I really enjoy them.  In the beginning I wasn't thrilled due to the challenges they impose but once I moved passed that it became more educational.  That's one of the things I love about these studies you learn something new with each one or rediscover what you knew before and apply in a whole new way.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums just a bit of raw umber on the brush for the drawing stage.  After the drawing is done I started on the darkest values section using ivory black, cadmium red light, cadmium deep red, cadmium orange, cadmium yellow pale.  At this point I'm just concentrating on big form modeling, I'm not concerned with the details they come when the bigger forms are situated just right.

After the big form is turning I start adding some hints of the indents or middle values.  When adding this step I'm constantly aware of the value shifts from dark to lighter values,  making sure it's working with the big form and turning correctly.  I'm not adding lighter values until the middle ones are working right, then I add the lighter values using titanium white and cadmium yellow light.

Then I move onto the next section after the first one is completed, I apply the same approach as I did with the first section.  I'm also using the same palette, just different variations depending on the area.

The left side of the tomato was a little challenging to make the big form turn and make it subtle.  I didn't use any ivory black just for the little crease in the middle, one has to be very sensitive in seeing shifts of values and hues.

Then I added the pit of the tomato using ivory black, burnt sienna, titanium white, viridian, cadmium yellow light.

Then I started on the wooden base using ivory black, burnt sienna, and cadmium orange.  Then for the lighter values I used the same mixture just added some titanium white.

Then for the background I used cerulean blue, cadmium red, cadmium orange, and titanium white.  This painting was delightful to create, the subtle colors from one area to the next was a challenge for sure but I learned so much.  Every painting has challenges they posses its up to us artist to unlock those barriers and learn as much as we can from them, that to me makes it worth wild to keep creating these alla prima studies.  To constantly push myself in developing my technique and achieving the best quality I can, not settling for anything less.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing my work, hope you enjoyed this one!