I was so inspired by Angela Anderson's video on how she guides her students in painting acrylic pears. So inspired that I painted four of my own large size. I did revise a few things along the way, and next time I'll definitely need to go off on a tangent of my own. Nevertheless, we needed something for the mantle, book club was coming, and I had an itch to paint. Great fun. The two best things were a reminder to paint an undercoat of red. I first learned that from Teesha at a Play retreat. It makes the pears almost glow. The second was the white reflective spots. When painting them, it is hard to imagine it will look like anything except a white spot you stuck a perfectly good piece, and, it does take a little manipulating, but voila! love the look. All of a sudden the pear is really truly round!
Angela has a rich, resourceful site with great ideas for teaching students that can also be inspirational for one's own art. You should check it out! Here is the video and here is her YouTube page.
Not sick of pears yet, I painted ten postcards for two months' worth of a postcard exchange I am invariably late for every month. I added some textures to the backgrounds and worked the colors a bit differently. Each one had its own personality. I got a lot of mileage out of those pears, yes I did. I blogged about the first set I sent out. I took the photo before I added the spots, though. The spots really make a difference, I think. Thanks again, Angela!
