The Speckled Egg - A Painting Step by Step

Every Saturday at the farmer's market in downtown Rutland, VT there is a special farmer I always look for. Nancy Wisner of Tweed Valley Farm brings to the market such culinary gems as smoked quail and yellow oyster mushrooms. My favorite item that she brings comes in a little package of 10: Speckled Quail Eggs.

Though delightful to eat

(I made mini deviled eggs once),

I get the most joy from painting these treasures.

Their playful spots and warm colors like that of a dark truffle or a coffee shop creation are so enjoyable to work with.

The earth tones found on the speckled egg play nicely with blue hues like the ones I mixed here. Whenever possible I like to save paint.

Oil paints will remain workable for a least an extra day of two if you keep them sealed.

Here I used a regular egg carton I had saved.

I plan to make a series of these speckled eggs.

To begin, I arrange them on a light blue piece of paper I found in the studio. I then play with the lighting until I get the dramatic shadowing I'm looking for.

Now it's time to draw. I used a colored pencil in a vanilla hue on a black primed canvas.

One of my favorite characteristics of these subjects is their shape.

I love this step. This is where I get to cut around the lines I've drawn with the background color. Its a simple step but I find it very rewarding. Perhaps it's because its the first time the oil paint touches the canvas or maybe it's that I get to color outside the lines.

Mixing to get my colors where I want them takes a little time.

Once I get those right, they become the foundation for the eggs.

A little shading helps bring the shapes to life.

Then I play with the background base color to create shadows and texture.

Highlights are added too...

This step is really fun. The spots are wild and uniform.

I utilize a couple different brush sizes here to speckle the eggs.

...and more spots...almost done!

A couple adjustments to the spots, lines, shading and highlights and we're finished.

I signed it by writing right into the paint in bottom right corner.

Once completed, the painting should resemble the subject with a certain amount of accuracy and a little twist of my own personal style. I want you to be able to see in the spots and brush strokes how much I truly adore my subjects and how much I love to play with paint.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

~Carrie~

View other works by me for sale on my Etsy page.