"Tea Cup and Grapes"

Oil on 6x6 panel.

I had a blue background on this, thinking that the blue would go nicely with the green grapes. I tried different shades of blue, and I just never loved it. So, finally I decided to just paint a very dark background, ( I think I used viridian, and transparent oxide brown). I like it much better now.

"Pear, Apple, Grapes"

Oil on 5x7 hardboard panel

Boy, have I been having trouble getting a painting done lately. But, finally, I am happy with this one. I really liked painting the cloth, I love the shapes that can be created with it.

"Grapes on the Vine"

Oil on 8x6 hardboard panel

These grape vines grow like weeds around here, especially along fences, in wooded areas and places like that. I"m always cutting them out of my yard. If left to grow, this time of year they are full of little grape clusters. On a walk the other day, I picked this little sprig off a vine growing along a fence. I'm sure they are not good to eat, but nice to paint. I liked the shape of the leaf, the colors of the fruit, and especially the little curly stems.

"Bowl of Fruit with Lemon"

Oil on 6"x6" gessobord
This painting started out with just a lemon and lime in a glass bowl, but it seemed to need more to fill in the empty space. Before I knew it, I added the grapes, then the strawberry for color and more grapes in the background. I tried to keep the background fruits loose, so that the lemon still seems to be the attraction, which is what I intended in the first place. My favorite part to paint was the glass bowl, and the patterns in it.
(I'll list this painting on ebay later this evening)

"Apple in Shadow with Grapes"

Oil on 6"x6" Hardboard panel
There is a bit of glare in the dark areas in this photo, I'll try to get a better one, but this one is good for now.

"Apple and Grapes"

Oil on 5"x7" Canvas Panel
It took me a few days to get a picture of this painting. It seems to be very hard for my camera to pick up differences in red colors accurately. I spent some time experimenting with photoshop, and came up with this image. I still think the original painting has some subtle color changes that are not showing up in the photo, at least, not on my monitor. This is as close as I could get.

Green Grapes with Yellow Flowers

Oil on 6"x8" Canvas Panel

Bananas and Grapes 2

Oil on 5"x7" Ampersand Gessobord
Someone asked me if I might do another painting of bananas.. so, I decided to try another one, since I liked the last one so much. This one is a bit different, it's painted on a 5"x7" gessobord, instead of a canvas panel. I like this one alot, the darker background really seems to show off the colors in the fruit.

"Grapes" 8"x6" Oil on Canvas Panel

Here is the finished painting. It came out a little differently than I had in mind, but I like it just the same. I had fun painting it. There is a bit of glare toward the top right of the painting, in the dark area. I just couldn't seem to get a good picture without some glare. The light area toward the top left, is painted to look lighter, there isn't much glare there at all.

"Bananas and Red Grapes" 8"x6" Oil on Canvas Panel

Here is the finished painting, and I really like this one! I had a pleasant time painting it, I didn't change my mind about anything 1/2 way into it like I usually do, and I liked the canvas texture for a change from the smooth hard panels I've been using. I like the smooth panels too, I just think it's nice to change once and a while. I feel like I paint differently on different surfaces. Just the same way as I draw or write differently depending on what kind of pen, or pencil I'm using. It's nothing I do on purpose, it just turns out different all on it's own.

I had posed these bananas and grapes a few different ways, and to help me decide which way I liked best, I took a picture of each different set up. The pictures helped me to remember each of the different ways I had positioned the fruit. Then I could look at them all at once on my monitor, and pick the one I liked best. Then,I set my fruit up that way, and painted it from life.

Bananas and Grapes, in progress...

These bananas are too green to eat yet, so I thought I'd make use of them in the meantime, by painting them. I added the red grapes to the picture, their color seems to go well with the yellow/green of the bananas. I'm painting on a canvas board for a change, (8x6) and I really like how it's coming out... so far.

Lemon and Red Grapes 6x6 o/b

"Lemon and Red Grapes" Oil on "6x6" Ampersand Gessobord

"Green Grapes and Flower"

Oil on 5"x7" Ampersand Gessobord

Here is a picture of the grapes painting I had started the other day. I'll post it on ebay later this evening.

2 Paintings....

images may be clicked to enlarge

I have 2 things to post today. The first is a picture of a painting in progress that I started last night. It is of a bunch of grapes, and a single bachelor's button flower. I had started with just the grapes by themselves, and noticed those little flowers I had in a vase nearby, so I added one. I really like the combination of green and purple together.

The second is a painting I finished the other day, of a lemon on a cloth. I thought I would try painting from a different perspective, so I stood at my easel (instead of sitting in a chair like I normally do) so I could look down at the lemon. I liked how it came out, so I think I'll try a painting from this view point again sometime. They are both oil on 5x7 gessobord.

Wine Glass of Grapes

I worked a bit more on this painting today. As I looked at it through a mirror, it seemed a bit lopsided to me, so I added a couple more grapes on top of the glass, and changed the pattern of light and shadow. I was having such a pleasant time coloring in all those pretty grapes, that when I was finished, and stepped back, I felt like my idea to let the top most grapes go out of the picture , made it seem a bit off balance... so, to fix that I might add a couple grapes going out of the picture toward the bottom edge somewhere... but where??? Maybe I'll just leave it alone for a while and look at it again tomorrow.

Red Grapes in a Wine Glass (progress..)

I thought I would paint some grapes today, since I have a bag full in the fridge, and they are such a pretty red color. I put them inside a little wine glass just for something different. I took some pictures as I went along, so I thought I'd post them.

My subject...
My sketch...
Adding some color...
... and trying to finish it off with some pretty color in the grapes, and nice reflections in the glass. I think I'm satisfied with how this is coming out so far.

This is oil on a 5"x5" Ampersand Gessobord.

Strawberries and Red Grapes

Strawberries and Red Grapes, Oil on 5"x7" Panel

I did this painting a while ago, and set it aside thinking I would finish it another time. But, I was away for about a week, and when I came back and saw it again, I thought it looked just fine the way it was. It has a looseness about it that I like, and a freshness that I usually lose by working back into something because I had a more finished idea about how I wanted it to look in the end.

Strawberries and Grapes... in progress

Oil on 5"x7" board

picture of the fruit I was using
I spent some time today painting some grapes and strawberries. I'd wipe it off, rearrange the fruit and start over. I did that a few times, and this is what I finally wound up with. It's getting dark a little earlier now, I noticed my room getting dimmer a bit early, so I stopped painting. I don't know if I'll work on this again tomorrow, or leave it the way it is. I kind of like the loose, sketchy look that it has now. Maybe I'll just leave it that way, I don't know yet.

Nectarine, and Green Grapes.

Oil on 5x7 canvas panel

Here is my finished painting, the grapes were a very hard thing to paint, I don't know what my problem is with green!!! I can't seem to realize how yellow some green things are. Maybe I should just forget about putting any green out on my palette, and just use the yellow, and blue. I had a teacher once explain that it was a good idea, when painting green things, especially in landscapes, not to use a green, because then you're stuck with it, you can't adjust it toward yellow, or blue... Actually, that was in a watercolor class, so I suppose, in oil it would be different, you can always change it... Anyway, after a few tries, I was happy with the way they came out. The reds and oranges in the nectarine seemed for me to be much easier to understand, and to paint. I also changed the position of the nectarine a bit, the stem seemed too close to the center, it looks better turned to the side a bit.

Grapes and orange slices, 5x7 oil

I thought I would add some orange slices to the grapes painting. The orange seemed to go well with the violet color of the grapes. I think it looks much better now. This painting is sold.