Fussy Versus Simple

Today, I started a pear painting in the morning by putting down a layer. Much later in the afternoon, I went down and finished it. This is the fussy pear.

While I was working on it this afternoon, I played around on a bigger piece of paper doing just the outline or a simple version. Here’s a partial view. The shape of the one in the upper left-hand corner worked, so it got a simple stem and shadow.

However, I like the following one the best. It was done on the same piece of paper, which is why there’s a stroke from a different, abandon pear going through the stem. It was quick and easy with 3 values and I think it reads as well as the ones I work on for a long time. There’s a place for both kinds and I am having fun exploring!