My latest oil pastel was submitted for the Wetcanvas Oil Pastel Monthly Challenge. Using a reference image that was selected for members to use in this challenge, I couldn’t resist making the painting my own.
Blue Bowl and Pears an oil pastel (9×7) was painted on black tinted Mi-Teintes pastel paper. The original image was three yellow pears, a white table-cloth fully covering a table against a very light beige/white wall w/the lower half bead boarded. I saw an old masters still life when I looked at the photograph – so two of the yellow pears turned into red pears, with a black background and gray-black table and beige cloth. A little different, but it’s the vision I kept seeing when painting the scene.
Thanks for checking in ~
Oil Pastels by Mary 
It is a little different which is what I love! Kinda film noir…. commenting from my film world. 🙂
Thank you so much Karah! Nice to see you again ~
like it very much ! wonderful choose of colours ! that deep blue is beautiful !
Thanks Marty! Nice to meet you ~
Outstanding colors … I was wondering about the choice of background color, but then I kept thinking that this is the best option.
Thanks so much Frank I appreciate your thoughts. Exploring color with oil pastels is always an interesting experiment, this time it worked out. Thanks again ~
Love the color palette you chose. Wonderful deep colors. Best of luck on the challenge.
Thank you so much Janell!
Lovely still life Mary. I like the warm colors against the cool colors in your complimentary palette. Very nice!
Thanks Rhonda, much appreciated!
I like the old world look, and the colors are so rich.
Thank you so much Elisa!
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So very painterly, so very beautiful! Hands-down, a fabulous piece!
Thank you Elena for your wonderful comment.
Absolutely beautiful, Mary! That blue bowl balances everything perfectly! 🙂
Thank you Maria, you are the color goddess – such a wonderful compliment coming from you!
‘color goddess’, oh my!!!!
but really this is not a compliment. It’s simply beautiful work! 🙂
Lovely, especially the blue bowl.
Thank you so much Gallivanta!
It is magic!! Love the volumes, they are perfect!!!
Thanks Maria~
Love the texture! Gorgeous scene– so serene and sophisticated.
Thank you Mamie for your generous comment!
Wow, a still life! Love it, the pears are sublime and delicious just as the small highlight accents on the rim of the bowl! An old master’s still life that is exactly how it feels and the decision to make it your own worked out perfectly! Wonderful piece!
Hi Eva, so glad you enjoyed this piece – thanks for noticing the pears and other light details. The vision I had from the beginning led me on this journey, glad I stuck with it because I could feel the painting come alive.
Does anyone ever tire of painting pears? I doubt it. These could be part of the stage set for a Shakespearean play….lovely..
Hi Cynthia, thank you so much! I find I love painting pears, these were fun with developing the colors and value ranges – unfortunately my camera didn’t pick up all the nuances. Thanks again ~
It’s wonderful! I love still life fruit paintings and this is evocative of a Gauguin.
Blue bowls are magical……….so literate and symbolic.
Really beautiful work, Mary. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks very much Sharon – appreciate your comment and nod toward Gauguin. I agree that there is something about still life fruit paintings, it was a fun painting to work on.
This must be your Caravaggio period. Such a tenebrous atmosphere, but I must tell you that I am enamored with that maenadic shade of blue.
Thanks Prospero, I missed your descriptive words! A little dark I agree, and yet this is what popped into my mind when I first saw the image to paint – the darker, nondescript blue bowl set the mood, the light hitting the pears is what I wanted to draw the viewer in to the scene. Thanks again ~
Good luck in the challenge! You achieved a great range of warm golden/copper tones 🙂 I like it!
Thanks and appreciate your thoughts on the colors. I worried that the gold tones were going to be too much, but they became the anchor of color throughout.
Good luck at the monthly challenge! Glad you painted your vision of the scene. Making it your own indeed. 🙂
Thanks Susan – this was a challenge I really enjoyed painting.