Ripe Tomatoes
August is tomato season. And it’s worth the wait. I spent a lovely hour yesterday in the garden sketching ripening San Marzanos and later made my first tomato pie of the year. Today, I’m happy to share both with you…though you’ll have to make your own for the best flavor.
Tips and Techniques– I did this painting on hot press 140lb Fluid 100 watercolor paper. The sheet is 12 x16” and the painting is about 9×12”. I wanted to give myself more room than my 8.5×11” sketchbook affords, while also trying out this paper. What’s nice about hot press paper is that a pen will glide across it nicely if you want to use ink for the initial drawing; what’s tricky is that it doesn’t like a lot of water. You can paint fine details, but you can’t get a big beautiful wet wash the way you can using cold press. If you haven’t used hot press paper, you might try getting a small block or sheet to test it and see what you think. (p.s., It’s 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder in the recipe)
Drawn In 
Love the shadows on the tomato plants! PS: what is the measurement for the baking powder (tsp or tbl)? Got to try this…..Thanks!!
Lynda- Sorry that measurement didn’t get on the page. I used 1 1/2 tsp last night and that worked. I’ve had this recipe for years and I have to guess each August when I pull it out. Those shadows were tricky– what color is a shadow on a tomato??
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I like how you often make a background of simple shapes in toned down colors. Do those go in before or after the foreground? And now I want a tomato pie. Yum.
Hi Julie- I put those shadow shapes in last. That gives me the chance to decide whether or not to do it, and to add them based on the rest of the composition. Try the pie!
Ooo, lovely! I’ll try the recipe!
Art plus a recipe…bonus!
Thanks Margo— this pie is a summer favorite!
Hi Jean,
I love this. Can you tell me what colors you used for background stems and leaves? My family is from Maine but I’m not familiar with tomato pie. Sounds yummy. Thank you. Susan Foshay
The background is cobalt blue with aureolean yellow and lots of water. Try the pie!
Thank you. Will do !
I’m assuming the baking powder is in teaspoons for the tomato pie?
Yes! teaspoons.
Beautiful! Love the composition and the wonderful greens and reds you have mixed. Which colors did you use for the greens?
Hi Ann- I mixed the greens mainly from Nickel Azo Yellow and Phathlo blue. A few places have Sap Green as well. For the background gray, I mixed cobalt blue and aureolin yellow. I glazed some of that onto the foreground stems, too.
I love how different this painting looks compared to cold press paper. As a beginner, I thought one should always use 300 g/m 140 lb. cold press.
Just lovely.
AND I got your pie recipe last year. Delicious.
I like the way paint colors bleed and mix on cold press paper, but I also like the smoothness of hot press. Both worth trying!
Thank you, Jean. What a treat. A painting & a recipe. Can hardly wait to make the pie. I love your artwork. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Pam! Hope you are having a great summer and doing some sketching and painting!
Those Tomatoes are lovely I think I should go to the greenhouse and draw before they are past their prime. I planted San Marzanos for the first time. I will try the pie sounds yummy! Thanks for the paintings of the tomatoes they are so bright and cheerful – another summer treat!
Hi Georgia- There are always so many good options for drawing in summer. I decided on the tomatoes so that I wouldn’t be pulled in too many directions going out to the garden without a plan. I saw some gorgeous onions at the farmers market…but had to pass them by. Next time! Enjoy your tomatoes!
Wow! Jean! I’m always learning something from you! Awesome tips about working with hot press paper. I’ve never heard of fluid 100 tho, so will check that out. Your tomatoes are amazing and look so delicious, but Tomato Pie! Another new-to-me thing. The recipe “card” is definitely suitable for framing, but making the pie? Must be an acquired taste? Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been playing around with hot press paper too lately…and now – I’m going to try out that recipe soon!! 😀
What a marvelous color for those tomatoes….I can imagine seeing them already!
Bright reds are lovely in the garden among all the green foliage.
I think you’re brave to lay in those shadows behind the main painting and then put a stem going the other way on top. What a complex composition, and it works! Not to mention the gleam and glisten of those tomatoes. Yum! Perfect color, too! Happy eating. 🙂
I am less brave than you think, as I put the shadows in last, after the rest was finished. Also a risk, but usually worth it. We’re making tomato-vegetable spaghetti for supper now. More to come.
Oh, of course! So you’re very clever, Jean! And well-fed, apparently. 😉