Love A Pear....

Pear Apparent.  Watercolor.
Approximately 12 x 20 inches.

This painting is dedicated to Marilyn Bishop--we're part of the same critique group, and when I saw her last week, she'd done a painting inspired by some pomegranants I painted at the end of last year (call me flattered). I don't think I ever blogged about them, but they were up on facebook here.


An aside about the pomegranates--I sold them to a woman in TX, and when they were shipped, the USPS punched a hole right through the middle of the painting.  The USPS was great about the insurance claim, but I can not imagine how they managed to punch the hole in the first place--I pack the paintings fairly carefully.

Hmmm--Marilyn doesn't have her pomegranates up on her blog, or I'd give you a link--she's a fearless painter, and does some incredible work.  You should check of her stuff here.

Anyhow, I haven't done a realistic, alla prima still life painting in ages--so I went back around.  This started as five pears, but I didn't quite have the composition.  Instead of going opaque or using crayons, I just incorporated the start of the remaining pears into the painting.  I like the ghost images under the blue.

Just an aside--everyone says to me (and if you're a watercolor painter, maybe they say it you too)--watercolor is so hard, you can't make mistakes.  Well, you can make mistakes.  Figuring out what to do with your mistakes is part of the puzzle of each painting, and what makes painting with watercolor interesting....

The details:  Fabriano 300 lb Rough Watercolor Paper, Daniel Smith Indigo, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue GS, Perinone Orange, and Permanent Yellow Deep.