From Studies

I'm taking a little break from the larger still life of apples, and I'm now working on an old subject. Last year I painted a small study of a Red Bartlett Pear (below) as a way to get me familiar with the subject. I had picked up this pear at the grocery store across the street and and thought that it had an intense beautiful color.

Red Bartlett Pear, 2006, oil on canvas panel, 7 x 6 inches, Collection of Mr. Fredda Weiss, New York

In my life I have seen plenty of pears but somehow this one caught my attention and it has been on my mind since my first encounter with it. Soon after painting the study I knew I wanted to make it into a much more fine tuned piece.

Study for Red Bartlett Pear, 2006, pen in Moleskine Sketchbook

That's when I made a small sketch of the pear and made notes of color changes. Using these two studies as reference I've started working on the painting using panel as my support. Recently I have been enjoying painting on panel more than canvas. I've noticed that colors are more luminous on the flat surface the wood and that it's also easier for me to build up more paint on this surface. So far the beginning stages of this painting are going well, and I have hopes that this will come out better than I expect. I guess I have to work hard and cross my fingers something terrible doesn't go wrong with the painting before reaching that goal.