Unpeeling Mandarin. Original oil painting.
Another must-paint for new artists - the mandarin orange, with a twist. Mainly variants.of cadmium orange. It's really important to get the waxy quality of the skin right, which was fairly successful. The shadow areas aren't as simple as they look, needing complementary balancing with blue. I wanted to explore the vivid colour of this fruit but found that too many artists had used mandarins in still life paintings, partially peeled with the peel draping down. So I decided to turn the idea on its head. I removed half of the peel and used a skewer through it and the mandarin to hold it above. The result is a quirky image, as if the mandarin has had a big surprise.
I really enjoyed this one, working with the contrast between the waxy outer surface and the soft pithy interior.
October 2021.
Original artwork oil on MDF panel 30cm x 42cm / 12" x 17".
Another must-paint for new artists - the mandarin orange, with a twist. Mainly variants.of cadmium orange. It's really important to get the waxy quality of the skin right, which was fairly successful. The shadow areas aren't as simple as they look, needing complementary balancing with blue. I wanted to explore the vivid colour of this fruit but found that too many artists had used mandarins in still life paintings, partially peeled with the peel draping down. So I decided to turn the idea on its head. I removed half of the peel and used a skewer through it and the mandarin to hold it above. The result is a quirky image, as if the mandarin has had a big surprise.
I really enjoyed this one, working with the contrast between the waxy outer surface and the soft pithy interior.
October 2021.
Original artwork oil on MDF panel 30cm x 42cm / 12" x 17".
Another must-paint for new artists - the mandarin orange, with a twist. Mainly variants.of cadmium orange. It's really important to get the waxy quality of the skin right, which was fairly successful. The shadow areas aren't as simple as they look, needing complementary balancing with blue. I wanted to explore the vivid colour of this fruit but found that too many artists had used mandarins in still life paintings, partially peeled with the peel draping down. So I decided to turn the idea on its head. I removed half of the peel and used a skewer through it and the mandarin to hold it above. The result is a quirky image, as if the mandarin has had a big surprise.
I really enjoyed this one, working with the contrast between the waxy outer surface and the soft pithy interior.
October 2021.
Original artwork oil on MDF panel 30cm x 42cm / 12" x 17".