Avocado Study (2023)

This piece was created as a still life study, focusing on the quiet discipline of observation. The avocado’s form — smooth, organic, and divided — offers a simple but rewarding structure to explore light and texture. The work captures the intersection between realism and painterly looseness, translating a familiar object into a study of tone and material.

Compositionally, the two halves introduce balance and contrast: one containing fullness, the other absence. This duality gives rhythm to the painting, allowing the viewer’s eye to move between surface and shadow. The soft edge of light along the fruit contrasts with the dense shadow beneath, giving the impression of immediacy and depth.

Though modest in subject, the Avocado Study reflects the meditative quality of still life painting — where the act of looking becomes its own quiet narrative. It’s a small exploration of patience, surface, and form rendered with care.

Painted digitally using broad oil-style strokes, this study employs a restrained palette of yellow-green, ochre, and neutral grey tones. The background was applied with loose, gestural brushwork to mimic the spontaneity of a traditional underpainting. Attention was given to the subtle interplay between matte and gloss surfaces, achieved through selective glazing on the pit and edges. The composition’s simplicity is intentional, allowing the focus to remain on the tactile realism of the subject.