Painting Loose Watercolor Pears: A Spontaneous Fall Art Session
When Inspiration Strikes: Just Paint Some Pears
I'm Valerie Englehart, and today I want to share a painting session that was completely unplanned and absolutely necessary. You know those days when you're feeling blah and can't decide what to paint? That was me today. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the word "pears" popped into my head.
I think I love pears because of their shape—that perfect pear shape. I even call my cat pear-shaped. She's a pear-shaped plumpkin! Once that inspiration hit, I didn't overthink it. I just grabbed whatever was on my desk.
Grabbing What's Nearby and Going for It
This wasn't my usual approach. Normally, I'm methodical about my paintings. I get a reference image, isolate values, consider my lost and found edges, and plan my color story. But sometimes you just need to paint some pears, and today was that day.
Here's what I grabbed:
Art of Soil watercolor paints (some random palettes I keep on my desk)
A size eight Da Vinci Cosmo top spin round brush
Scrap paper from my desk (literally the back of a piece where I'd been practicing brush marks)
I keep scrap pieces of paper on my desk to test out brushes or paints when I need to re-familiarize myself with something. This painting was purely a case of "I need to paint something right now—grab, grab, grab, and go."
Why This Spontaneous Approach Works
Even though this wasn't a carefully planned piece, I'm still getting valuable brush miles in. Plus, it's perfectly on trend for fall since pears are a fall fruit. I'm also experimenting with paints I don't normally use—these Art of Soil paints are thicker and a little more opaque than my usual choices. They have a texture that I can feel when I run my hand along them (which I don't particularly love), but they're wonderfully earthy, perfect for fall.
Planning the Composition (Just a Little)
I didn't want this to be too realistic. I love how pears sometimes have green bases with yellow or red splotches, and these earthy colors work beautifully for that natural variety.
One thing I did plan: I wanted my pears to be relatively equal in size and placement. I was worried that if I just started on one end and painted across, I'd run off the page. So I used clean water to paint little marks where the pears would join together. This way, I could see where they'd go without committing with pencil marks or paint. If I'd placed those watermarks wrong, I would've just dried them with a paper towel, but I got it right the first time!
Embracing Color Mixing and "Muddy" Moments
One of the things I love about watercolor is how colors merge and fuse together. The key is not messing with it too much. Since I was using red and green—complementary colors—you might notice that where those areas meet, they get kind of brown and muddy. I'm completely fine with that because having some desaturated areas makes the more colorful areas pop.
Here's a color theory tip: if you ever need to tone down a color, don't use black. Use the opposite color on the color wheel—blue and orange, purple and yellow, or green and red.
I did accidentally touch the bottom of my middle pear while it was still wet, so I just dropped in a little more of that greenish-blue color. Then I added some stronger red, purely on vibes.
Creating Shine and Highlights
To create shine on the pears, I used a clean, damp brush to lift the paint. Spoiler alert: the middle pear's shine is a little wonky, but I got the one on the right pretty well!
This technique works because I know the properties of these Art of Soil paints—they're thicker and more opaque, but they lift very easily. I just use a damp brush, lift the paint, dab it off on my paper towel, lift more paint, and keep following the motion of the pear. Since pears are round, I use curved brush strokes.
Also, pay attention to where your light source is. If light is coming from the left, place the shine on the left side of your pears.
Other Ideas for This Technique
This could have worked really well on a watercolor greeting card—Strathmore makes greeting cards with watercolor paper that you can paint on. This loose pear design would be perfect for sending out Thanksgiving cards.
This same approach would be fun with apples too, since apples come in such a variety of colors. A row of colorful apples using this spontaneous, loose technique could be beautiful.
The Takeaway
Sometimes the best creative sessions happen when you stop overthinking and just create. This painting reminded me that it's okay to grab what's nearby, follow a random inspiration, and see what happens. You're still building skills, experimenting with materials, and creating something that brings you joy.
So the next time you're feeling blah and can't decide what to paint, just pick something simple and go for it. You might be surprised by what you create!