Judy's Pear

I love pears, something about their organic female shape that makes them interesting to paint. My aunt's birthday is coming up and I painted this for her. I like dark backgrounds and this pear I put on an old bamboo cutting board. One would think a green pear would have a lot of green but actually it really has a lot of yellow.
Off to Oregon for a few days to celebrate my friend's birthday, can't wait to take some photos of the landscape and I'm bringing gouache for some quick color studies.

Scavenger

This was a large crow that was scavenging for food on Moonstone Beach in California. I was surprised he allowed me to get so close to take his photo but he seemed oblivious to me snapping away. He was the only dark spot on the glittering beige sand. Crows are fascinating birds, they used to scare me when I was young but they are very majestic and bossy. Birds with an attitude!