Mary B Spires Watercolor & Art Stuff

6x6 Oil on Canvas Board During the Carol Marine Workshop the girls from Georgia had these wonderful turnips....mine are not quite as pretty, but I did enjoy painting them.

6x6 Oil on Gesso Board As you can see I did change a few things, added a little more white on the dish, plus cropped off the top right corner, plus add a little more color on the oranges slices.

At this point I walk away for a while....just to get a fresh view I take it onto the porch where I have north light.......

Adding on more paint and starting the background.

I seem to get a better end product if I put on a first layer. I first toned the board with Cadmium Yellow Medium. Next I painted the shadows, then a layer on the oranges. Since the dish is white, I mixed several colors of Gray, then added white as I was putting in the "white colors" of the dish.

I began painting about 6 am!!!! Early Bird that I am....this is my best time.

I love doing Oranges....in fact I think they are my favorite. I took the time this morning to do a step by step.....this is the photo, remember when you set up your still life get those wonderful shadows, they help create the tension in the painting......plus you can feel the sunshine!