Blood Oranges on Canvas

Cut blood oranges at close range, filling a tall canvas edge to edge — one whole slice turned to the light, the others crowding in around it, half in shadow.

The colour runs the full length of the fruit: bright amber where the light passes through the flesh, deepening to crimson and near-black at the rind. Every segment is drawn outward from its centre in a single loaded stroke, and the white highlights are laid on last and left unblended, which is what makes the surface look wet.

It is a large work and it behaves like one. Close to, the paint stands proud of the canvas and reads as relief before it reads as fruit.