From my studio: Afternoon Apple Oil Study.

I can think of so many reasons to add apples to art as symbols or to further a theme, but if you asked me why I wanted to painted an apple yesterday it was because I noticed I had one left in the fridge, and for some reason, part of another one... like I sleepwalked and put it back or something? and shame on me as well... it was a honeycrisp apple! They are one of the yummy but pricier varieties... and the random core was kinda dry....icky but not gross and moldy yet. So I grabbed a wine glass and set up a still life to practice wet-on-wet oil technique! I am sharing some of the process pics here and also more stock photos from this set-up- I have benefitted from other artists who have shared references with willing express permission when something is hard to find! if you want to play around with apples and wine glasses in any medium you will have these at your disposal. :)

I used a windowsill with a black curtain (which is actually a sheet) for drapery. I have natural light coming in from east windows. The panel is a 5x7" board wrapped with canvas- the final will be framed in order to be displayable/able to hang on a wall. 

My palette consists of burnt umber, ultramarine blue, permalba white, cadmium red, cadmium yellow light, indian red, burnt sienna, and lamp black. Mostly I'm using a filbert brush with a tip just smaller than my pinky, mineral spirits, and an oil medium for flow mixed with liquin.

very basic sketch, just a guide.

began with the background drapery, working dark to light. I use glazes more often in my
 large pieces' processes so starting here was good for getting used to using more paint at once
before heading to bright color. 

here comes more color... apple flesh and some of those same colors
are in the stem of the glass- reds/browns and pale yellow. 

starting to really paint the apples. the sun is changing so the light is different on the setup also,
 and I've turned on my spotlight. it is in a location that mimics the same light...sort of.

the more i painted on the glass today the more i enjoyed it!
i want to paint more reflective stuff! and... it's almost done..

 at the very end it looked like this. well, when I took this pic the paint was still wet but it's going to be varnished so it will look like this again...so you get the idea...

"Last of the Honeycrisps..."
©2012 Amanda Christine Shelton
5x7 inches

For additional stock photos of this apple, core, and glass in various positions for still life reference and for use under Creative Commons license check out this stock folder at my deviantart account. Feel free to email me if you have any additional questions!  I can't wait for this one to dry so it can be framed :)