Monday Inspiration - Fall Harvest, Tomatoes

Ah - tomatoes!  I look forward to the late summer, early autumn just for them.   And, I could eat them at every meal so I took this photo as soon as I could - before they were gone.  They are sneak preview of leaf colors that we will see as we move deeper into the Fall.


The colors are simply gorgeous - vivid, inspiring and bottomless.


So as with all my visual obsessions... I have to paint them.  I painted this basket of tomatoes a few years back.  And my biggest challenge was the depth and vibrancy of the color - that color goes beyond red!  I used layers and layers of glazed color, many of which were lemon yellow, to achieve the luminosity.

"Fruit of the Gods" watercolor on paper, 8x10, copyright Erin Rogers Pickering

The original painting hangs in my kitchen bringing me a vivid reminder of those stunning colors year round.