"Scorchio". Original oil painting.
Close-up of a habenero chilli on a chopping board, one of the hottest chilli varieties commonly available, similar to the scotch bonnet.
I had an interesting experience with this one, specifically around the red. "You can't just throw cadmium red at it and be done!". I couldn't quite get the warm red I needed either that way or with vermillion, so I went around the other way and used the CMYK palette (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) - almost unintuitively, magenta and a bit of yellow create a sizzling red that I added as a final layer. How does it work? Well, magenta is a sort of red/violet mix, and yellow is the complement of purple - result is that the purple is attenuated, leaving just the red.
And red and green are complements, so a habenero is inevitably going to create a striking picture.
June 2022. Oil on MDF panel, 12”x12” (30x30cm).
Close-up of a habenero chilli on a chopping board, one of the hottest chilli varieties commonly available, similar to the scotch bonnet.
I had an interesting experience with this one, specifically around the red. "You can't just throw cadmium red at it and be done!". I couldn't quite get the warm red I needed either that way or with vermillion, so I went around the other way and used the CMYK palette (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) - almost unintuitively, magenta and a bit of yellow create a sizzling red that I added as a final layer. How does it work? Well, magenta is a sort of red/violet mix, and yellow is the complement of purple - result is that the purple is attenuated, leaving just the red.
And red and green are complements, so a habenero is inevitably going to create a striking picture.
June 2022. Oil on MDF panel, 12”x12” (30x30cm).
Close-up of a habenero chilli on a chopping board, one of the hottest chilli varieties commonly available, similar to the scotch bonnet.
I had an interesting experience with this one, specifically around the red. "You can't just throw cadmium red at it and be done!". I couldn't quite get the warm red I needed either that way or with vermillion, so I went around the other way and used the CMYK palette (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) - almost unintuitively, magenta and a bit of yellow create a sizzling red that I added as a final layer. How does it work? Well, magenta is a sort of red/violet mix, and yellow is the complement of purple - result is that the purple is attenuated, leaving just the red.
And red and green are complements, so a habenero is inevitably going to create a striking picture.
June 2022. Oil on MDF panel, 12”x12” (30x30cm).