As I’m staring at the blank wall in my kitchen, inspiration hit me… painting a pear in acrylics but not just any pear though, I wanted a large still life, something colourful, different and big. Acrylics are great in a kitchen, easy to clean and they dry fast. Looking at the colours in my kitchen, which isn’t much at the moment because Joe and I can’t agree on a theme, green is always nice, but can be really boring. So how can I create this painting and not waste a ton of time in case Joe hates it?

Painting a pear in acrylics itself isn’t the hard part, it’s the technique, colours and style. All because I want something different. The process I take is creating prototypes (studies) is to work with composition, colour and the physical form. Doing all three of these things in one painting would take a lot of time, so I’m going to break it up into four phases.

Starting small of course is a great way.. it’s fast! I love creating miniature art because not only can I experiment in a short period of time, I like to cheat and create the pieces 2.5″ x 3.5″ so they are sized as an artist trading card so I can give it to someone. The first design will be no different. I will be focusing on composition and using chipboard letters to play with words.

Tip: an even faster way to create studies of this kind is to use an existing background. For example, this sanded chalky finish background in Book of Backgrounds #34 would only need a transparent layer of paint to instantly add colour without loosing all the texture.

Join me for this four part series where I’ll create the following:

painting a pear in acrylics small format using chipboard letters, focusing on composition
painting pear in acrylics in an art journal to play with colours
prototype with dangling letters
then the final reveal of the finished wall art

Painting a Pear in Acrylics

Ready to Make This?