"Blueberry Muffins on Main" - SOLD

"Blueberry Muffins on Main" - 8 x 8 inches - oil on canvas

My art is on display at Muffins on Main through the end of this month.  I was commissioned to create a painting with one of their mugs, trays, and muffins on top of one of their tables.  So, they were pretty specific in what they wanted.

As usual, I started by photographing the set up from multiple angles, different lighting, and different arrangements of the elements.  Even though I took 30-40 photos, I still ended up using Photoshop to move some items to my liking.  

At home, I recreated the set up in my studio as I much prefer to paint from a live set up instead of completely relying on photos.

There is a lot of brown/tan/orange color in this set up so I started by painting my canvas with a thin layer of bright, blue acrylic paint since blue is the complementary color of orange.  I allowed little bits of the blue to show through, primarily in the silver tray, to add a nice pop of color. 

This commission was a really nice exercise in color mixing.  You may notice the color of paper that lines the tray is more subdued, i.e. more gray, than the coffee or muffin color.  To get this effect, I added more blue to my mixture (of red and yellow).

Overall, I was really happy with how it all came together.  More importantly, the Muffin on Main folks were very happy too!  I don't have a photo yet but am told it is proudly displayed on their wall.