I continued on with my 5×5 canvas panels, after painting the candy in the previous post. The pink doughnut was from a reference photo used in Fresh Paint’s “Paint More in 2026” week back in January, and the white miniature pumpkin is one of my own references. (Right now the pumpkin is outside sitting on the lap of our skeleton right by our porch.)
Food & Drink
Apples in a Bowl
This bowl of apples was painted on a 9×12 linen panel and it’s based on a photo by Robson Melo on Unsplash. I need to adjust the color of the bowl in the middle left; at first I thought it was part of the shadow, but it’s not.
As I reflect on this painting, I think of it as “tight” rather than loose; too static. The red and yellow apples look like they could be peaches instead. And, finally, it looks to me like the paint soaked into the canvas too much — the canvas came pre-gessoed but perhaps I should have added another coat. The other option is to paint at least another layer; however, I got bored painting this one so I’m undecided as to whether I will.
Cheeseburger, cheeseburger
This painting is on an 8×8 stretched canvas, and is based on a photo by Federico Faccipieri on Unsplash. I did the background not as black, but rather a chromatic black (Burnt Sienna + Ultramarine Blue). This was fun to paint!
Coconut Doughnuts
This painting (on an 8×8 canvas panel) is the last doughnut painting for a while (although I have a handful I still want to paint). Coconut doughnuts are by far my favorite — but of those, the best was Dunkin’s once-upon-a-time Toasted Coconut doughnut. I used to love those.
These doughnuts are based off of a photo by Fernando Delgado on Unsplash.
Donuts with Bacon Bits
I actually cannot decide if the reference photo showed bacon bits or something like, say, cinnamon crunch. Since bacon bits actually sound more appealing to me (to cut the sweet of the doughnut), I went with that idea. This painting, on an 8×8 canvas panel, is based off a photo by Kivanc Erdirik on Unsplash.
Glazed Chocolate Donuts
I am still on my doughnut painting kick. This painting, done on an 8×8 canvas panel, is based off an image by Mike Gattorna from Pixabay
Chocolate Doughnuts with Sprinkles – Finished
These doughnuts were painted on a 9×12 linen panel, based on a photo by Pushpak Dsilva on Unsplash. I changed the background from black to Cerulean Blue. What appealed to me about the reference image was the bright sprinkles, only I went overboard. Why not?
Chocolate Doughnuts.. the Messy Middle
This is a work-in-progress painting on an 9×12 linen panel based on a photo by Pushpak Dsilva on Unsplash.
Short Stack of Doughnuts
I struggled with this painting, and am going to show some of the struggle. It is based off a photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash. My final painting is way down at the bottom of this post. I ended up essentially just using the shapes of the 3 doughnuts, and went off on my own, adding frosting to the top doughnut and ignoring the crumble topping of the bottom doughnut.
My first attempt in a side-by-side with the reference photo. This was just a fail — although I DID try the gloss medium mixed in with the yellow ochre paint on top. (Turns out you can’t mix it FAST; it will create air bubbles which then minimize the shine.)
The second attempt is below and I used Yellow Ochre mixed with white, and Raw Sienna (by Golden) mixed with white for the more shaded parts. Ultimately, completely unexciting, but at least the transparency (see above) was gone due to a second layer of paint. Last night, I watched a YouTube video by Marla Baggetta called How to Paint Donuts in Acrylic (I took her online acrylic painting course a few years ago, plus some of her pastel classes). Anyway, for the chocolate frosting, she mixed a touch of Dioxazine Purple with Burnt Umber so I tried that for this version of the painting. (In HER reference photo, the purple cast of the chocolate is easily seen, but I like the deeper dark the mix brings.)
Finally, here is the painting I am calling done. I painted over the above painting, using Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna without any white. I added another coat of yellow “frosting”, and added a middle seam to the doughnuts, touched up the chocolate frosting, and then the highlights.
