Orange Slices

6x6 oil on board.

#20 of 365 Paintings in 365 Days

Oranges are a lot harder than I thought they would be :P

Learning Points:
1. Use only light and dark oranges for the orange and its shadows.
2. Use light blue (the compliment of orange) for highlights.
3. Make the reflection not look too much like the orange to make it look more realistic and blend like when blending into water: blend into the dark color of the surface.
4. I tried a little bit different composition by setting these up higher.
5. Paint from life, not photo.
(I really had these too red at first and they looked like grapefruit slices, so now I know what colors for grapefruit LOL!)

Please feel free to help me out on these :D

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Comment by Silvana M Albano on January 23, 2014 at 12:36: :)!

Comment by Pandalana Williams on January 23, 2014 at 10:51: Yep, Silvana...working on it now. I am doing 2 and yep, they are difficult. I am almost finished with a quick rose study, and am taking a break. I have started on a pulsatilla vulgaris (which is a wildflower from Europe) I am doing a blue one.

Comment by Silvana M Albano on January 23, 2014 at 7:07: :) I will be looking for my flower!!!! :) Perhaps I will then start painting them! They seem sooo difficult!

Comment by Jessica Futerman on January 22, 2014 at 18:45: This is gorgeous, Pandalana! And an interesting discussion about the colour of the shadow/reflection!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on January 22, 2014 at 14:16: Hi Pandalana, One more thing: I am only referring to shadowizing (not a real word) the orange. Blue reflected light can certainly occur within the shadow side. If an orange is sitting next to a cobalt blue vase, then the blue would reflect back into the shadow (or light side). You just stand a better chance at clean color when you leave the compliment out of the shadow mix.

Comment by Michael J. Severin on January 22, 2014 at 14:02: Hi Pandalana. Yes, I see the blue ...BUT, she did not use blue to shadowize her orange color or her grapefruit color ..just the rind. I see a little green on the orange ..and that is okay, because green has yellow and so does orange..so they don't make mud. .....Blue mixed with orange will make mud. You can "tease" some blue into the orange colors, if you desire ..but mostly as a scumble .not mixed. BTW, if you were to paint the orange outdoors, then putting blue into the shadow side would be appropriate, because of the blue reflected light from the sky. I am not saying that you should NEVER shadowize with blue ..of course anything is open .BUT, cleaner colors will result if you stick within the same color family. ..as far as painting still life INDOORS.

Comment by Pandalana Williams on January 22, 2014 at 13:46: LOL Silvana, I will paint a flower tomorrow just for you! I have to do a blue challenge, so I will do a blue flower, no oranges, I promise. I am doing one more tonight, and I am sure I will be doing more. The one tonight is on a blue jar :) Michael, I really like painting them this way. I have seen some modern renditions of oranges, where they use blue a lot and wanted to give it a try, but was going in the wrong direction, I think I will stick to the way you suggest. Here is a "modern/looser" one on daily paintworks I liked (and I have seen others with slices) I would still like to find a way to get it in a realistic painting, but just not sure it will work:

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/elena-katsyura/oranges-and-g...

Here is a grapefruit with the same blue effect, by the same artist:

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/193612

Happy painting everyone! Paint every day!

Comment by Christine Lewis on January 22, 2014 at 13:16: Pandalana, this is so 'fresh' looking. Your colors have improved with each one. This is great!

Comment by Silvana M Albano on January 22, 2014 at 4:54: Well Pandalana! Great job with your oranges! I wonder if they are just citrics you must paint or you could go to flowers? I had an oragnge today and remembered you!!!! The pieces were on a blue plate, and it was really interesting to observe them!!!!