Eggs is Eggs

6"X6" Oil on panel

I am lucky enough to have a colleague who keeps chickens and supplies me regularly with lovely free-range eggs. They come in all shapes, sizes and colours ranging from deep brown to almost white. I have no objection to white eggs, but many of her customers prefer the brown ones thinking that they are better for you (there is actually no difference and the colour of the egg depends entirely on the breed of chicken).

This was a very satisfying project. I chose to do it from a viewpoint directly overhead to avoid having to deal with a partial ellipse. Ellipses are hard enough, without having them cut off on two sides. In fact I went one step further and cheated on the circle by using a makeshift compass to get is laid down in the drawing. Other than that it was really just a study in neutrals. I wasn't getting the colour of the eggs right until I realized that I needed to add just a touch of red. So my palette was burnt umber, raw sienna, white, cerulean blue and just a tiny touch of cadmium red, cadmium yellow and black. I rarely use black but I just added a touch to some of the deeper shadows to provide more contrast.