Grapefuit and Pomegranate Portraits

 

There are many reasons why a painter may want to paint a portrait of fruits, not least of which is the fact that the "sitters" need not be paid. In fact, as a bonus the artist may feast on the delicious sweetness of the subject. 

• Like people, no two fruit portraits will ever be exactly alike. Each fruit has own unique shape, seed arrangement, spoilage spots, and light will hit each one differently depending on its placement.
• When painting fruit, a painter is challenged to represent the fruit's character: the swirl of seeds in the pomegranate; the translucency of the seeds, showing the succulent juiciness within; its imperfect shape.
• In the grapefruit, I got to portray the pink, semi-translucent segments. If a viewer gets hungry or thirsty for grapefruit juice, it would not be an accident.
• The fruit comes from living plants and my paint is alive with vivid colors of nature.
• I had the opportunity to practice getting color just right. In both pomegranate and grapefruit paintings, I had to paint exactly what I saw and not what I thought I saw. In the curve of the pomegranate, there are hundreds of shades beyond simply cadmium yellow medium: naples yellow, cadmium yellow light, burnt umber, raw umber, white, and even touches of rose and viridian, as well as many hues and blends of each. 
• I practiced with texture, especially with the pomegranate. The skin of that fruit is somewhat rough, with striations going from pole to pole, and each dent gives the chance to express the shadows and lights. The grapefruit is dimpled with tiny dots, but not all are shown, rather a few here and there give the impression that the whole globe is dotted like pinpricks.  
  

Mmm, delicious and thirst-quenching art.