Doubly Citrus - a new experiment

This morning, I wanted to paint some orange slices under sunlight. I had some sort of a setup in my mind and went ahead arranging things and playing around in the studio. Just when I was about to finalize on a setup, the sunlight vanished. I had not even taken a picture and the light had completely changed. I was really disappointed and walked out of the studio.

After a while, I had another idea. To split up the slices and set them up against two different objects on two backgrounds. Hence I set up these identical still lifes side by side and decided to paint them simultaneously too. What's more, they use *exactly* the same palette. I went in for Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Red Deep, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White. This is pretty much my usual palette, when I do not need any saturated greens. 

We all know that using any 3 primaries and white, you can pretty much mix the entire spectrum. But to see that in action like this is surreal. I mixed a purple, a blue leaning variant, a red leaning variant. One went on the left panel and the other on the right panel. It was great fun, something that I am itching to repeat already. :) 

Doubly Citrus
Oil on board, each 7 by 5 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 30!

And that's how it's done! I cannot believe I actually managed to paint 30 pieces, so celebrating with a slice of pumpkin pie today. Neither do I bake nor eat desserts, so painted this from a reference I liked at morguefile. :)

Pumpkin Pie
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 27

I had to paint the gorgeous fruits all over again. Just love the light on them, and I hope to have done justice!

Golden hour gossip
Oil on board, 18 by 24 cms (7 by 9.5 inches)
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 26

The other day when I painted these fruits under bright sunlight, I had taken a few pictures moving the fruits around a bit here and there. Very similar compositions under great light. I really liked this square composition amongst them and had to paint it today. :)

One vs Two
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 25

After painting my purple vase with the pears yesterday, I had left the setup untouched on my table. When I walked in this morning, I just felt like tackling the same subject a little differently. In came a dim light source and I changed the direction of my easel. Voila! A brand new painting. :) 

If you guessed there was a nocturne coming, brownie points to you :-)

Nocturnal Pears
Oil on board, 7 by 5 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 24

I painted this green pear a week ago. After that, it was left unattended in the studio and the poor pear turned yellow. Now that's what happens when you buy fruits only to paint with no intention of eating them. However, the now yellow pears looked gorgeous with my purple vase and had to be painted again! :) 

Purple vase and pear
Oil on board, 7 by 5 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 23

Evening Huddle
Oil on board, 9.5 by 7 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Days 17 and 18

I was in an experimental mood yesterday, so tried something that I have never tried before - painted two panels simultaneously. I set up this simple still life in my studio, and decided to paint two versions of it - a day and a night version. The night panel is illuminated by a single lamp and the day panel is naturally lit. Both the paintings use exactly the same palette of only the three primaries and white. 

Day and Night
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches each
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 16

Vase and Pear
Oil on board, 5 by 7 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 15

Catching up with posting, though I have been painting everyday :-)

Sliced again
Oil on board, 5 by 7 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 14

Today was a long day at work and a very hectic evening chauffeuring the kiddo around. I was too tired and dazed to come up with a still life set up or anything. But, I did not want to let the day go without painting something. So just popped up this teapot in front of me and painted it. It was a blast! I will be using this teapot in future paintings, so it was good to get a start today.

Just a teapot!
Oil on board, 5 by 7 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 13

I had planned to paint one of my daughter's cute little piggy banks this morning. I had it all setup and walked into my studio. However, when I walked in, the morning light was glowing and I fell in love with it. I wanted to paint the nectarine slices under that light and just put this up together in a couple of minutes. I also wanted to brighten up the backdrop so went in for real colourful sheets of paper. I am quite happy with how this one turned out! 

Sunday Breakfast
Oil on Canvas, 8 by 8 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 12

After painting the nectarines in full the last couple of times, I had to cut them up today. But you knew that was coming, didn't you? :-) Also wanted to go in for a bright background, so went in with this blue sheet of paper. I love how it turned out! 

Sliced nectarines
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 10

Nectarines and Vase 2
Oil on Board, 7 by 5 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 9

I have never painted nectarines before, and haven't eaten one either. Since I never bothered to buy these fruits, I haven't gotten around to painting them. This time I bought some just to paint. They make such inspiring subjects with beautiful colour and they just had to be painted.

As I was trying different set ups in my studio, the one that I loved the most was setting up the fruits and vase under a dim light. I went in for a dark low-key painting with the focus only on the fruit. I am quite pleased with the result.

Vase and Nectarines
Oil on Board, 7 by 5 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 6

I had planned to paint one of my Tuscany references today, from a photo. However, when I got up this morning, the sun was shining bright into my studio. Now I could not let go of the sunlight and my cityscape had to wait for its turn. 

The innards of tomatoes always give me the jitters, I have always stayed away from this subject. Today, I wanted to set up something red against the sun and these were just perfect. I hope I have done justice to the beautiful light. 

Sunny tomatoes
Oil on board, 18 by 24 cms (7 by 9.5 inches)
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 5

I have a red vase that's exactly like the purple one that I painted for day 1. Since I wanted to do another fabric study, picked this one up and set it in a very simple arrangement. 

Red Vase and Fabric
Oil on Canvas, 7 by 5 inches
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Painted using a very limited palette - Cad red light, Cad red deep, Cad yellow medium, Ultramarine blue and Titanium white. And boy it was a blast! 

September 30 Paintings in 30 days - Day 4

I am not a fan of pears at all but love painting them. So when I saw these red-yellow pears at the market, I just had to pick them up. Slightly modified the previous composition and painted another pear today under different light. 

The two pear paintings would look great when hung together. :-) 

Pearched
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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September 30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 3

Rainbow on my way
Oil on board, 18 by 24 cms (7 by 9.5 inches)
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Blue and Orange #2 - Original Still Life in Oils

After the last painting, I was left with quite a bit of blues on my palette. So I had to paint the vases again, at least one of them. This one too is painted just using the palette knife, with the sides painted too. It doesn't need a frame and can be displayed as it is.

Blue and Orange #2
Oil on Canvas, 6 by 12 inches
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