Tasty Tomatoes

"Tasty Tomatoes"

Image Size 9" x 12"

Watercolor

Here is the tomato from last week along with a couple more vine ripened tomatoes.  They aren't as flavorful as homegrown, but pretty good for store bought produce.  I was hoping to grow tomatoes this year but it wasn't in the cards.  No tomatoes taste as good as homegrown tomatoes!  Next summer I will have a bountiful garden.

When I decided to paint a second picture of these tomatoes, my intention was to do a 'saturated wet' watercolor painting.  I used Fabriano Artistico paper which didn't work well for this technique.  I think there is too much sizing in the paper.  When I tried to darken the colors, the previous layer lifted so I had to let it dry completely and paint it using traditional techniques.  Another thing I don't like about this brand of paper is that it has a huge watermark on the edge of the paper.  You can see it on the bottom edge of this painting.  To me, it is a distraction to a finished painting and that will keep me from buying this paper in the future.

Palette Knife Tomato

Palette Knife Tomato

Image Size 6" x 6"

Oil

It's always seemed wrong to me that a tomato is classified as a fruit.  I looked it up just to be sure and scientifically it is definitely listed as a fruit.  In cooking, it is considered a vegetable since it is used in savory dishes rather than the typically sweet dishes that use other fruits.  Strangely, this makes me feel much better than having them only seen as fruits.  Avocados, cucumbers, pumpkins and squash are also fruits.   Really? 

This is a palette knife painting.   I think I am getting back into the painting groove finally.  I have a couple of paintings that I've started this week but had to paint this one to post today since the other two are larger and I knew I would never finish either by today. 

The Old Yellow House

"The Old Yellow House"

Image Size 16" x 20"

Oil

Still no time...no motivation to paint...

This painting was started many years ago and I decided to finish it this week.  Old Town Tustin has a lot of charming old houses and this is one of them.  I painted this completely with a palette knife and simplified it, trying to keep from noodling it to death with detail.  Using the palette knife makes it easier for me to stay away from detail which tends to be the way I see things.

It feels good to finish another project.  Hopefully, next week I will feel more like painting and will have more time.  I miss spending time in the studio.

Colored Pencil Plumeria

"Colored Pencil Plumeria"

Image size 2.5" x 3.5"

Colored pencil

Another week of no time and little energy...so, here's another ACEO.  This time, I felt like playing with colored pencils.  I love the look of colored pencil drawings but rarely have the patience to use them for anything much larger than an ACEO.

I used a piece of Bristol paper with a 'plate' finish - totally smooth - which doesn't allow for working with multiple layers of color.  There is no 'tooth' to grab the pigment so after one or two passes, the paper doesn't accept any more color.  It feels as though your pencil is gliding over a slick piece of ice and leaves no trace that it has been there.  That was fine for this drawing since I didn't want to spend much time finishing it.

Hopefully, next week I'll feel more like painting and will have time also.