"Pears"

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"Pears"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Hi everyone, I'm revisiting these pears to try out a new approach to painting.  Painting pears is always a challenge, their skin has so much complexity to them.  The subtle values from one area to the other varies greatly in each area of the pear.  Their colors also are a lot of fun to paint, the middle values always contain so much chroma.  Overall it's a challenge but a joy to paint these guys, I'm excited to get back to them

I started with the traditional drawing approach using no mediums just a bit of raw umber on the brush.  Then I painted the background in using cerulean blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  I also then proceeded and painted the wooden base.  I started with the darker values first using ivory black, cad. orange, and raw umber.

Then I stated the middle and lighter values of the base by using titanium white, cerulean blue, and burnt sienna.  When the wooden base was completed I moved onto the darkest area of the cast shadows, and also started on the right pear.  

As you can see with the last pic and this first one on the left I am stating all the colors first on the pear.  I'm basically putting all the notes in the correct spots, then I start moving them around by blending them or dabbing them to soften the edges so the form can turn.  By stating all the colors down first its easier for me to see what needs to go brighter or darker.  Just because I've stated all the colors  doesn't mean I'm going thicker with the paints, I'm still pretty thin at this stage so I can still have control of the paints.  By keeping thin at this stage this allows me to create more texture if I need to go thicker, and also it doesn't get muddy so quickly.  Once all the colors are stated and its looking good at that stage, I go back to the shadows and refine it to a finish.  

Once the shadows where complete I move onto the lighter areas of the pear and do the same.  The colors I used for the pears where ivory black, viridian deep, cad. yellow, naples yellow, and cad. orange, and titanium white.  Then I started on the pear to the left, I started the same way I did with the last pear.  I stated all the colors down first making sure the form was turning as well.  I used cad. red light, cad. orange, cad. yellow, raw umber and ivory black.

Once all the colors where stated I went back to the shadows and refined it to a finish.  I did the same with the lighter areas once the shadows where complete.  I really enjoyed painting this one, I learned a lot with my technique by approaching it in a different way.  It wasn't easy but it was good to get out of my comfort zone and try new ways.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing,  I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did!