pomegranates

Pomegranate #1

Pomegranate #2

March of 2021: The third pomegranate’s underpainting was done with a mixture of burnt umber and raw sienna. The yellow-ish color of the toned ground was especially nice when I was working on the white/yellow skin on the inside of the pomegranate as some of that color still shone through. In the reference photo that I took, the foreground of the pomegranate is in focus while the seeds in the back are pretty blurry; I decided to paint the whole pomegranate in focus. See the slideshow for some close up detail shots and a process picture.

April of 2021: This pomegranate is probably my favorite painting of the series. It was completely different from the previous three pomegranates because it is more zoomed out and has a view from above. I started with a green underpainting and initially painted the seeds the same colors as the reference photo (super dark!). Eventually, I brought more of that brilliant red color into the seeds, and I began to like the painting more and more. I had to experiment with different backgrounds as well – initially I kept going with the green tones of the underpainting and did a light green background, but I decided that sticking with a color that was already in the pomegranate itself would be the most successful and cohesive; thus, light yellow tones! Also a small note: Olivia Rodrigo’s new album SOUR came out in the middle of this painting and that was the only thing I listened to for the majority of this painting process. Below is the finished piece, and in the slideshow you’ll find many process pictures, my reference photo, and the beginning of a mechanical pencil sketch.

May of 2021: The first painting of the outer pomegranates and the only painting without any seeds! This was definitely a tough one and I did not have as much fun with it (I got so attached to painting each individual seed), but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I began with a paynes grey underpainting and initially made the stems way too small. After I was satisfied with the actual pomegranates, I had a really hard time with the background. (look at the slide show!) The first background was a little too curtain-y; the second was a little too flat. The third background was way too dark, and so I returned to the colors of the initial background (without the impression of a curtain).

June of 2021: pomegranate 6! This pomegranate was technically supposed to be #7, but there was another painting that did not end up working out and I decided to move on (see it at the very end of the slideshow). I did a very sunny and warm yellow color for the underpainting. The foreground pomegranate (the full unbroken one) is a lot pinker and lighter than any of my other pomegranates. While painting this pomegranate, I found that 1) I like painting the seeds much more than I like painting the outer pomegranates, 2) painting at night is when I get the most work done, and 3) I love audible. (This painting was done while listening to the book This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp and it was so amazingly heartbreaking I cried. Highly recommend if you enjoy sad sad sad books!)

July of 2021: the final pomegranate!! This one took a really, really, really long time. I really wanted another vertical pomegranate and I wasn’t happy with pomegranate #6 being my last, so here we are! I started with a blue underpainting and it took forever to do all of the seeds. The blue under the red ended up making the painting have a somewhat purpleish feel to it. This painting is also the one with the largest seeds – the most zoomed in painting. I used a dark dark brown background to finish this painting (so now we have two dark backgrounds in the series). After finishing this last pomegranate (or at least I think it’s going to be the last pomegranate), I felt kind of sentimental (as ridiculous as that sounds). I still don’t know exactly what I’m painting next, but I just want a break from the constant red seeds I’ve been painting for the last six months.