Mandarins in a Blue Bowl

Today I'm posting the finished product of a 3-day painting. Read up from the bottom of December 11 to see the painting evolve. You can also watch an animation of the painting.

9 x 12 inches, oil on 1" deep wood panel

For the final few hours of the painting I tinkered with the fruit. I ended up peeling another mandarin for the curl of peel; the one I was using before completely withered over the last couple days. The fruit in the bowl now have solid round forms, and all the colors are deep and saturated.

I also made some final refinements to the peeled fruit in the foreground. I added some contrasting light and darks, and I emphasize the orange glow of light shining through the single slice in front.

Phase 7

In this phase I concentrated on the background and the butcher block surface. I glazed the whole backdrop darker; the pattern detail I'd thought about including seemed distracting. I also decided the cutting board was too warm, so I completely repainted it in cooler colors and added more detail of the wood grain and knots. I think the cool color better captures the feeling of the winter light, and makes the orange fruit really pop. I also refined the bowl in this phase, adjusting the reflections and subtleties, and deepening the shadow, giving it a blue cast on the edges. I decided to remove the piece of rind to the right of the bowl as it was cluttering the composition.