Watermelon "Hue"

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6x6" water mixable oil on board, 10/9/15

I haven't had the best luck picking out watermelon this year, but this one was a winner :) Unfortunately, painting the thing was a little less enjoyable than snacking on it. 

I picked up a different brand of paint last time I needed some cadmium red and accidentally got the "hue" (I was in a hurry), and it is truly awful stuff. There were some definite lighter values in the red of the melon, but when I mixed the cad red hue with a little bit of white, it was so chalky pink I was just blown away. 

So... anyway. I mixed with yellow instead (to get a lighter value), which resulted in a rather orange-y melon (at least orange is the complement of the blue background, right?). Then I was so preoccupied with the color mixing issues that the drawing got lost along the way (there is something seriously wonky going on with that back piece of melon, ha!). 

I will just thank this melon for being an experimental color study with a mysterious tube of red "hue." Now what to do with the rest of the tube? ;)

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