Delft Salt and Pepper Shakers with Fruit

Oil on 8x6 hardboard panel

I've been wanting to paint these little blue and white china salt and pepper shakers. I like their color and the soft ripple they have in their shape. I thought their strong blue color would look nice along with something yellow and something red. I'm really happy with how this came out, because lately I have been trying out a more detailed and smooth way of painting, which is very nice, but, not quite "me". I can see in this, a return to how I naturally paint. And I like it much better. It's me :-)
Thank you to everyone, for your wonderful comments, I appreciate them so much!

"Strawberries and Orange Slices" 6x6

Oil on 6x6 in. hardboard panel.
I love the combination of orange and red in this one. It smelled great too while I painted.

"Cut Orange and Strawberries"

Oil on 5"x7" board
It always surprises me how different a color is in reality, compared to what color I think it is. The color orange out of the tube is nothing like the color of this orange fruit. It's hard to give in, and just make a color that matches the fruit and use it in the painting, no matter how it looks on the palette. These oranges now look to me, more real than any others I've done.

Fruit re-painted

Oil on 5"x7" canvas panel
I liked this painting alot, but something about that tangerine bothered me. It seemed too perfectly round, and the nobby end was at an awkward angle, and I had a hard time making it look right. (Scroll down to see the previous painting) So, I put an orange in it's place. I like this much better.

More Fruit

Oil on 5"x7" Canvas Panel
This fruit brings to mind a warmer climate, and sunshine, and the colors of summer. All the things that are missing right now. It snowed today.
Sorry the clip holding the panel is in the picture, but no time to retake it right now, maybe tomorrow.

"Strawberries and Pear"

Oil on 5"x7" Gessobord.
I had the day off yesterday and spent the afternoon painting this, and I finished it today. I used some thalo blue for the green mixtures, which was a fun change from ultramarine blue, or viridian, or thalo green.

"Strawberries in a Dish" 5x7

I bought this little dish the other day, only because I wanted to use it in a painting. I thought these strawberries would look pretty against the shiny white ceramic surface of the dish.

"Banana and Strawberry with Box"

This is painted in oil on a 5"x7" Ampersand Hardbord. I recently bought a package of hardbord to try, instead of using the gessobord. It's the same kind of panel, but the gessobord already has gesso on it, and the hardbord does not. I like putting my own gesso on, I did 2 seperate coats, one brushed up and one brushed across, criss crossing each other. It made a nice soft pattern, almost like the threads of cloth.

"Watermelon and Strawberry"

Oil on 6x6 gessobord
I did this painting a couple of days ago, but wanted to wait for the cloudy weather to pass so I could take a picture of it outside. I painted it with the same colors as I mentioned before, for the lemon, but added pthalo green, and some winsor red. I like using the green to darken the reds, and it makes a super dark color when mixed with alizarin crimson.

"Spring Reds" Oil on 5"x7" panel

I love how all the reds in the tulip and strawberries look together, and the red reflecting into the shadows. This is painted in oil on an Ampersand Gessobord.

Three Strawberries

Oil on 6"x6" Gessobord
It was a quiet day around here today, so I was able to finish my strawberry painting.

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 Strawberries 5x7 Oil on Canvas Board

click images to enlarge

I wanted to paint these strawberries, because some of them have that unripe yellow/green color near the stem, which I think makes them look more interesting. The nectarine was very ripe, and I wanted to be sure to finish this painting so that it could be eaten. And I did, and it was.

I loved mixing up all the different reds, and seeing how some of them just seemed to glow next to others. Alizarin crimson, and cadmium orange; cadmium red and alizarin; permanent rose and c. red, winsor red.... etc. etc....so many ways to make such pretty reds!

Two Strawberries on a Napkin

click images for larger view

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished strawberry painting. It is a 5x7, painted on canvas panel. I've posted 2 pictures since they each are a bit different. The top one is good, but has a bit of a glare on the background, so it doesn't look as dark as it really is. The bottom one shows the darker colors better, and looks more like the real painting.

Available for purchase on eBay, click here to view the listing.

"Cup with 2 Strawberries", 5x7 oil on panel

Here is the finished painting. It is for sale on eBay. This painting is Sold.

Orange slices and strawberry

I've set the painted box aside for now... and decided to work on something different. This is an oil painting done on a 5x7 gessobord. I really like how this one came out!