Pears, Pumpkins, and Hurricane Matthew!

After completing a pear a few weeks ago, it was time to move on to something that really screamed Autumn. There are so many interesting subjects to be found in nature this time of year that I’ve been overwhelmed with just what to illustrate next. The subjects had to have interesting colors and textures. It seems that most of them do but I also wanted something fun. After a lot of deliberating and second guessing in my local Publix produce department, I chose a small pumpkin to bring home to my studio. It was also my intention to upload the process pictures of the piece along the way but that nasty Hurricane Matthew blew through, throwing a fast curve-ball and forcing my family and I to evacuate for nearly an entire week. Fortunately, we had very little damage around our house. Most of what we found when we returned home was little more than a front yard and garden full of branches and two small trees downed. Some others weren't so fortunate so I have certainly been counting my blessings. Then, after all that, I went on a pre-planned family vacation last week. As a result, I got behind in just about everything.

With all that said, I hope there will be no more storms in the immediate future and a lot of studio hours to catch up on. Time is ticking away for me to get more pieces photographed for printing and to sell for this fall and winter. 

Here are some shots of the pear and of the pumpkin. I have more work to do on the pumpkin stem but I’m pretty pleased with how the colors turned out on the body of the fruit and will photograph the completed pumpkin within the next few days. Until next time…Happy illustrating and Happy Halloween! 

 Pears are one of my favorite subjects to illustrate. This is the last one that I recently completed. All the illustrations in these images were done with Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. hot pressed watercolor paper. 

Here's my subject resting beside an older illustration of Chinese Lanterns.

I had already added a few layers at this point but had and many more to go. Botanical illustration is certainly an exercise in patience!

The image here is dark but the color is starting to become stronger.

After many layers of color, this was when the body was nearly complete. On to finishing the stem and taking more photos!