Citrus Slice Lemon and Lime Still Life

Capturing Cut Citrus

There is a particular challenge in painting citrus fruit. It is easy to fall into the trap of over-complicating the details, but with the piece Citrus Slice Lemon and Lime Still Life, the focus was entirely on raw colour and immediate shape. I wanted to capture the sharp, clean contrast between the cool greens of the lime and the warm, intense yellows of the lemon without relying on fine, delicate lines.

Instead of a smooth finish, the structure of the fruit is built using direct, heavy brushwork and palette knife marks. You can see where the thick white paint forms the pith and the rim of the bowl, creating a physical texture on the surface that catches the light in the room. The shadows aren’t merely grey or black; they are deep ochres, warm oranges, and structural blues that ground the composition.

Working on this still life was an exercise in simplification. By pushing the colours into a slightly more vibrant, expressive territory, the goal was to evoke the actual sharpness of the fruit—the acidity of the green and the brightness of the yellow—rather than just copying a static arrangement. It is about the weight of the paint and the energy of the marks left behind.