"Leaning Tangerine"

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'Leaning Tangerine"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

This composition was so much fun to create, it was a challenge to say the least.  To keep the tangerine staying in that position I didn't move for the whole painting.  Painting these fruits and vegetables so much I've started to play more with the composition, seeing what works best for the subject and how interesting I can make it look.  It's so much fun seeing how far one can go.  

I started with the usual dry brush approach for the drawing stage using no mediums.  Then I filled in the background using cerulean blue, naples yellow, and titanium white.

Then I started with the darks of the leaf using ivory black and viridian.  Then I added the middle and some lighter values using cad. yellow and titanium white.

I repeated the process with the other section of the stem and leaf.  I then started on the orange going from the darkest value to the lighter ones, I used cad. orange, cad. yellow, cad. red light, raw umber and ivory black for the darkest darks.

Then I added the middle to lighter values using cad. yellow, and titanium white.  I also added the lighter values or highlights just using titanium white.  

I then go back to certain areas of the lighter and darker values and shape them to what they need to look like.  I'm constantly bouncing back and forth just sculpting each area to the specific look i'm going for.  Then after the tangerine is completed I start on the base using ivory black, burnt sienna, and cad. orange.

For the lighter and middle values I use the same palette but with some titanium white mixed into it.  I also start playing with certain edges to push some plains to the back and other forward.  Playing with edges is always a good lesson when trying to bring your painting to that next level, as I stated before in previous blogs edges make or break your painting.  With this painting I was also seeing the amount of paints I should use from the beginning till its completion in each stage.  What works best for me is start with minimal paint in the initial stage and build from there to the desired look.  This creates control and prevents the colors from getting muddy.  I hope you enjoyed this painting, thanks for stopping by and viewing!