Have you ever looked at a piece of fruit and thought, “Wow, you have a story to tell?” That might sound a little silly, but when you spend hours staring at a pear while painting it, you start to wonder! I recently finished this small pear oil painting, and I’m excited to share a bit about the process and the story behind it.
This little 6 by 8 inch canvas was actually created live. I was participating in an art show at the Lewisville Grand Theater in Texas and decided to do a live painting demo right there in the gallery. There is something really special about painting in front of people. Usually, you only see the finished product hanging on a wall, perfectly lit and still. But art is an action, a verb! I think it’s way cooler for visitors to see an artist at work, smelling the oil paints and seeing the mess we make before the magic happens.
For this piece, I really wanted to play with temperature. If you look closely at the light and midtone areas on the fruit, you will see a lot of warm yellows and ochres. But as soon as your eye moves to the shadows, I switched to colder tones like blues. This push and pull between warm and cool helps the pear pop off the canvas.
I didn’t want to smooth everything out perfectly, either. I left prominent brushstrokes on the surface of the fruit to highlight the planes and structure. It gives the painting a bit of grit and texture that I really love in oil studies.
And what about that narrative I mentioned earlier? You might notice two little pear seeds tucked away in the bottom left corner. They are there to balance the composition, sure, but they also add a little mystery. Maybe this pear wasn’t always so solitary. Maybe it had a partner that was already enjoyed as a snack! It adds a layer of time to a static image.
Creating this pear oil painting was such a fun experience, especially sharing the process with the art lovers in Lewisville. I hope this little glimpse into my process makes you look at your next piece of fruit a little differently. Maybe it has a story too!
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