I'm a painter, and never intended to write a food blog. But since fruits and vegetables are so beautiful to look at I often wind up using them in my still life paintings. Right now the grocery stores around here are stocked with mandarin oranges and hachiya persimmons, two gorgeous fruits that originated in Asia. Every autumn I look out for them because they make such wonderful subjects to paint.

Mandarin oranges are deliciously sweet and come in several varieties. A quick internet search revealed that these particular mandarins are called satsumas. Fortunately for me satsuma oranges are shipped with stems and leaves still attached. This protects the oranges and makes them more fun to paint. ☺️

I purposely tried to keep the edges as wet and soft as I could. My aim was to use sharper edges only where absolutely necessary. So you could tell that I was painting oranges and leaves, and not just puddles of pretty colors. This soft method takes advantage of the flowing, watery nature of the watercolor medium. And is a continual source of learning and experimentation for an artist who started out as an oil painter.

Persimmons also come in varieties. The two most commonly sold in New York City are fuyus and hachiyas. Fuyus are the flat round ones, sweet and ripe while still firm. I painted the other type, hachiya persimmons. Hachiyas have pointed ends like acorns, and need to get good and soft before you can eat them. Otherwise they're quite astringent and can make your mouth pucker, blech!

My persimmons had reached the ripe, delicious stage. I put the lovely orange-red fruits in a silver bowl, and placed them on a patterned fabric to create an interesting reflection.  But I didn't want that beautiful, busy fabric to take over the whole painting. So I muted the patterns by keeping their edges soft. And I upped the contrast, details, and color intensity in the fruit. That's how my luscious persimmons hold your attention and remain as the center of interest.

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My goodness it's been an exciting week! Between the national election and family obligations I've had the attention span of an anxious gnat. And I'm ready for two weeks of being thoroughly spoiled. Nevertheless I managed to complete a small, quick watercolor this very morning. Saved by the bell.

I bought some honeycrisps at this week's farmers market. My favorite apples, crisp and sweet. I picked out these two apples to paint because they looked so beautiful with their leaves still attached.

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My mother loves bright, beautiful multi-colored bouquets of flowers. And who doesn't? Lately I've been bringing flowers home to her quite frequently. Just that little drop of nature seems to lift our spirits while so many of our usual activities are on hold. Besides, she enjoys painting flowers. It runs in the family.

Recently I bought a gigantic bunch of blossoms that crowded even our biggest, baddest vase. I thinned it out by removing the tiny white baby's breath that florists use to pad out their arrangements. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I've never thought that baby's breath did much for bouquets anyway. So I put the little flowers into their own mini bud vase and casually set them in front of a blue screen. And there they magically transformed into a twinkly, star-like vision that became the inspiration for a painting.

Only thing is, how could I possibly paint a nice blue watercolor wash around all those teeny tiny little white flowers without going mad? Then I remembered that some watercolorists use liquid masking fluid (also called friskit) for just such a purpose. They brush the frisket onto paper, and wherever it lands it resists the watercolor paint. And abracadabra, it reserves the white of the paper. So cool.

However, I once used friskit with disastrous results, probably because it was way past it's sell-by date. Instead of rubbing off nicely when I was finished, it turned a nasty gray and stuck to the paper. Not only that, but it ruined the brush too. Ugh, I wasn't looking forward to a repeat performance. Nevertheless I persevered. This time with a brand new bottle of Schmincke liquid friskit that came highly recommended. And it worked like a charm. Thank goodness.

In the the language of flowers baby's breath is a symbol of everlasting love, pureness, and innocence. No wonder they're often found in wedding bouquets. Here's my homage to their celestial beauty. You can click on the image to see it larger, to purchase, or to contact me about the painting. Thanks for visiting!

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Red is quite a fiery, flashy color, isn't it? It likes to jump up and down and wave for attention. It monopolizes all eyes in the room. Too many flashy colors in your painting and it could escalate into a brawl. Although I adore them I rarely place such flaming colors so prominently in my paintings. Usually I save them for a few bright accents just to liven things up. That didn't happen this time.

It was full harvest mode at my local farmer's market. Amid all the produce was a dazzling assortment of peppers in yellows, oranges, reds and greens. All these gorgeous colors caught my eye, so I brought a box home to paint in a still life. I arranged some orange and green peppers in a bowl with a few red ones scattered about for a bright color pop. Frankly, my first attempt was not a success. (Hey, it happens. All the time, actually, and thereby lies a tale for another post.)

When I finally got around to the second try the peppers had ripened into a full blazing scarlet. Not my original intention, but what can you do. An artist has to adapt. Anyway, that red was such a rich, ravishing color that I went for it. I'm a sucker for a challenge. But how to make it work with all that heat? I thought that by surrounding the reds with some cool grays and blues it might calm the composition down a bit. And allow the reds to shine. And that it might be fun to contrast them with that one lone green pepper that refused to ripen. 

For the next painting I went back to my usual m.o. with a gentler color scheme. And some brilliant color pops. Back at the market I picked up another box of peppers. Orange ones.  This time the red accents were in the leaves of a croton plant sitting by the window. It was a dark, rainy day and I loved the way the soft, cool grays played against the vivid reds and oranges in my peppers and leaves, setting them off nicely. 

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In our last episode I featured a painting of flowers with not just one but several glass vases. Colored glass is one of my favorite subjects to paint. I love the beautiful tinted shadows that are produced when light passes through it. And the way that glass sparkles with little highlights of reflected light. Fun, right? 

In fact, the vases were so much fun to paint that I looked around for more shiny objects. On one of my forages through the kitchen I spotted some fine-looking peaches sitting on the counter in a stainless steel bowl. I thought maybe a bit of striped fabric would make for some interesting reflections. I wasn't keen on all those energetic stripes overwhelming the whole composition though. That's why the stripes nearest to the bowl were painted with more intense color and contrast, while the surrounding ones were left a bit hazy. The lemons were placed in a sort-of semicircle leading the viewer's eyes on a little walk around the bowl and stripes before heading back to the juicy peaches. 

You can click on the image to see it larger, to purchase, or to contact me about this painting. Thanks for visiting! 

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 Why do people love realistic looking paintings? The more a painting resembles a photograph, the more most people seem to admire it.  Maybe that's because it takes real virtuosity to pull off a photorealist painting. And, like watching Olympic athletes, we love to see people excel at things we have little chance of accomplishing ourselves. Sure, I get that. I even admire some photorealist watercolorists myself. But it's not a style I try to emulate. 

Why not, you ask? Well, perhaps it's just a matter of personal taste, who knows. But I'm attracted to a more spontaneous, understated and fresh approach. One that watercolor is particularly suited to with its playful, watery ways. It's one of the reasons I decided to study the medium in the first place. And, by the way, to do it well takes incredible virtuosity! That's why I keep on learning and practicing, just like an athlete does. 

Which brings us to the next question: When is a painting finished? And when is it overdone? As in cooking pasta, I believe it's best to take it off the fire before it gets mushy. While it's still al dente, if you will. Maintaining that delicate balance between describing too much and just enough. To create an illusion you can understand without being shown everything. To say it's not easy for the artist to stop before crossing that line is a complete understatement. A painter is always, always tempted to add just one more little thing. And then another. And so on. Oy!

Okay, so I was going for that magic balancing point when I painted these veggies from the farmer's market. Fortunately there was an automatic time limit because we were having corn for dinner. With no other choice, I had to finish it before dinner time. So I refrained from painting each and every leaf,  every single corn kernel, and every little silken hair. Instead my best effort went toward suggesting them, and leaving room in the viewer's imagination to fill in the blanks. Something that the human brain is designed to do.

You can click on the image to see it larger, to purchase, or to contact me about this painting. Thanks for visiting! ​

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Like many of you who live car-free in urban areas, I don't get out that much these days. Summer is my favorite season of the year, but this year I feel it passing me by. Well, not just me of course. There are so many suffering far worse. After all, there's a little thing called a pandemic that's pretty much changed the entire world as we know it.

Personally, I got smacked the hardest when the warm weather showed up. I wait all year long to pack up my easel and brushes and take them to wonderful parks and places all around my city. This year safety precautions and family responsibilities put a cramp in that. However, I'm supposed to be a grownup so I try not to sulk. Not 24/7, anyway. Besides, painting indoors is fun. Even in summer. There are luscious, dreamy fruits and vegetables at my local farmer's market just calling out to be painted. So I try my best to memorialize their deliciousness before feasting on them. 

You can click on an image to see it larger, to purchase, or to ask me additional questions. Thanks for visiting! ​

Gary Tucker is a very fine and experienced watercolor artist. A few years ago he gave a workshop in New York City that I was fortunate enough to attend. What a fun and wonderful learning experience that was! Ever since then I wished that I could take an ongoing class with him. But alas, he lives in far away Boston, while I live in New York City. Well, one silver lining in an otherwise horrific pandemic is that Gary now gives weekly online watercolor lessons. I've signed up for every single one of them, and I'm so glad I did. Recently my understanding of this beautiful but tricky medium has gone way up, and all because of this opportunity to study with him. 

Below are two still life paintings that I set up in front of my window. They were done as homework for a lesson about using transparent glazes over washes of warm color. The first composition is a variation on the one that Gary painted during his demo. The second painting is my own original composition and  shows a pot of azaleas in front of the New York City skyline. You can click on an image to see it larger, to purchase, or to ask me additional questions. Thanks for visiting! 

For more information about his online watercolor workshops please visit Gary Tucker's website. Highly recommended.

Our Thanksgiving turkey was browning in the oven, and the guests were getting hungry. So I placed an appetizer on the table, and my sister said "Wow, that's beautiful, you should paint that!" 

She was right, of course. So when I got the chance I created a similar set up in my studio. I love the sweet/salty aromas and tastes that the subject evokes. And all the gorgeous colors and textures, and the beautiful cast shadow under the plate. It really was a delicious composition to paint!