Watercolour with brush and airbrush, 1999.

Still life affords an unusual apportunity for an artist. The composition, lighting, and arrangement are largely under his/her control. In this case, I was very interested in the various colours and textures of the different fruits and the way light reflected from one to the other.

In such an arrangement, it is imperative that the impression of solidity and structure be conveyed. That is, each fruit must appear to have its shape and particular location in the pile, otherwise there is a danger that the structure will look flat. The airbrush was a tremendous help here in accentuating the subtle shading and bringing out the secondary reflections of light.