Still Life Oil Paintings by Nicole Pellegrini

I love painting onions, both in large still life compositions or close up, by themselves. An art teacher once told us students to practice painting onion skin as it is very similar to painting human flesh tones - and he was right! This painting was based on a great close-up photograph I had of an onion. I loved how some of the outer skin was peeling away, almost like a flower blooming. I sketched the image quickly in burnt umber paint, and then built up numerous layers of glazed color to get the translucent look of onion skin. It's one of my favorite still life works, nicely framed in a black, brown and canvas frame to accentuate the onion texture and color.

This painting was another great challenge, but a lot of fun to work on. Plums have unique skins, both opaque and translucent at the same time. I wanted to capture their softness, as well as the rich blue-red-purple colors of the skin. The painting came out so well I had to frame it in a large, ornate dark frame to really show it off (you can see the framed image in the Etsy shop gallery.)

This was a fun one. I had a unique photograph of a cracked open coconut on a textured, marble-like countertop. Painting white objects is always a challenge because there are actually so many colors that can be used to give them depth and shape, here the open cavity of the coconut. I also liked the outer shell of the coconut with its rough, "hairy" skin. This was painted again after a quick sketch in burnt umber paint, primarily focusing on getting the roundness of the coconut correct. The background was completed through numerous glazes of thin color. It is framed similar to the large onion painting above, so the two actually make a nice pair - they're currently hanging in my dining room!

This one was actually extremely difficult to paint! Trying to capture the glossy outer skin of an avocado, along with its rough, bumpy surface, was no small challenge. I started this one with a grisaille underpainting and slowly added the greens and browns for the skin, working back and forth in mostly opaque color application. It is nicely framed in complementary black wood with canvas lining.

This painting took a great deal of time and work to capture the glass bottle realistically, and the way it reflected and distorted the cloth behind it and the pear to the bottom left. It's painted on gesso board, again using the verdaccio approach to underpainting and then color glazing. It is for sale framed in a beautiful gold-finished wood frame, very elegant and classical in appearance.

I'll admit papayas aren't my favorite fruits to eat! But they are pretty and have a lot of variety in the coloration of their skins, which make them fun to paint. Yellows, browns, reds and greens on the skin of the papaya were captured here in multiple glazes of thin color.

You can read my still life painting tutorial to see step-by-step how I finished this painting, using the verdaccio method of underpainting. It's a very classical-style still life, with an interesting composition from the light and shadow patterns.

It's the frame that really makes this painting of a single fig stand out. As an Italian, I do love my figs (I'm even trying to grow two fig trees in my backyard currently!) Celebrating the summer harvest of figs I just had to paint this small canvas, which makes a lovely accent for a kitchen or dining room space.

Red, yellow and green bell peppers are bright and vibrant subjects to paint! I used lots of glazes of transparent oil paint to capture the glossy, reflective skin of these peppers. The frame complements the colors wonderfully and this painting really "pops" off the wall. It would look lovely in a rustic-style kitchen or any room in need of colorful, original artwork.