I have been illustrating food since 1980. I especially enjoyed painting fruit, which I have been sharing on Twenty Lines. For this post, I am sharing my illustrations of apricots. These illustrations were used on packaging labels for yogurt, juice, jam and baby food.
All of these paintings were done before Photoshop existed. I have a blog where I describe my technique and have a lot more information. It is at:
I have illustrated so many fruits, that it’s fun to select groups of them to share. I have been a food illustrator for over 30 years. For this post, I’ve chosen plums and pomegranates. These illustrations were used on labels for yogurt, baby food, juice, jam and vitamins.
Plums are similar to grapes with their powdery surface. I used a light gray colored pencil over my watercolor painting; the bluish cast was useful to portray that effect.
This painting was early in my career. Later on, I became much better at painting prunes. Compare this with my later illustration below.
Seeing these prunes close up, shows how abstract they become. There are many colors to be found within them. I especially loved the deep burgundy.
The pomegranates illustrated here were created later in my career. For the last few illustrations, I painted over a digital rendering that I generated on my computer and was definitely more photorealistic. The computer was extremely useful composing my painting and allowed for clients to give great input before I painted anything.
An example of my photo-reference shows how much improvement was needed!
I have a blog where I describe my technique and have a lot more information. It is at:
I am excited to share another painting on 20 lines, which I’ve named Dessert Medley. Painting delicious food always intrigued me. The many colors that could be found in whipped cream (beyond white) were fun to discover. Dusted sugar and strawberry hives required a toothpick.
I always photograph my reference before painting them. I admit that choosing delicious food has advantages, because there are leftovers once I’ve taken my pictures!
My photo reference – not nearly as beautiful!
This painting was created with watercolor dyes, before there was Photoshop. Some close-ups are below.
I have a blog where I describe my technique and have a lot more information. It is at:
All of these paintings were done before Photoshop existed. I have a blog where I describe my technique and have a lot more information. It is at: 
