Pears-Final

© Ellen Blonder

I repainted the veins on the leaves truer to the spacing on the real leaves, and continued shading the pears. This post shows a slightly closer view. Now it's time to eat the still life.

Pears-Day 4

© Ellen Blonder

I've been slowly shading and highlighting the pears, and have also added some details to the leaves. It amazes me how difficult it is to capture an almost smooth surface. All the pears have ripened and the leaves have dried out since I began this painting.

Pears-Day 3

© Ellen Blonder

I've fixed the perspective a bit on the bowl, and still need th shade the interior more. I'm in the process of shading the pears; a challenge is that the paint dries darker than when wet, so what looks smooth when applied becomes blotchy as it dries. The leaves still need their veins painted in; I've made them greener than they are in a more dried out state.

Pears-Day 2

© Ellen Blonder

Just filling in truer colors today. Getting the pears shaded is going to take a while. The bowl's perspective needs correcting, too.

Pears-Day 1

© Ellen Blonder

My friend Janet shared her abundant pear harvest a couple of weeks ago. I put some in my favorite green bowl and photographed them before they ripened. I'm still exploring painting against a dark ground (see Rose in Bottle posts), so here's the first day's underpainting. I used to think detailed leaves would be much harder to paint than smooth open areas--like the surface of the pears or inside of the bowl--but the opposite is usually true. The painting is on a 16 x 16-inch sheet of masonite.