Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Purely Pears on Valentine's Day

I think pears are one of the more appealing fruits to use in a still life composition. I enjoy painting them because they are shapely and very individual. Each pear, like a snowflake, is quite different from another. These are Bosc pears, my favorites to eat, because of their crisp, firm texture. They're also one of my favorite varieties to paint because they seem to have a personality. I like to paint them in groups so I can pose them. In honor of Valentine's Day I used a red backdrop!

I'm always trying something different with these little compositions because you never know when you'll stumble upon a nice color combination. So I used a limited palette on this painting and experimented with eliminating blue from my palette.Instead, I substituted ultramarine violet and the result was a nice warm painting with natural color harmony. One pear stands alone in the light, so I call it "The Sentinel".

THE SENTINEL 
10" X 8" oil on panel


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