If you like food (and who doesn’t?) then stick around for a mouth-watering peek at Mary Ellen Johnson’s delectable oil paintings. Her larger than life images truly expose the “finer details” of eating.
Raised in New Jersey, Mary Ellen currently resides in the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina. The challenge of finding something to paint each day led to painting everyday objects—including food—which slowly evolved over time to become the primary focus of her daily painting blog.
As an artist and blogger, Mary Ellen enjoys the connection she creates with readers and their cravings for her subject matter. And of course, each painting is not only tasty, but incorporates skilled oil painting techniques.
For instance, the painting of stacked pancakes below shows incredible detail, from the smooth porcelain of the plate to the softness of the cakes and super-realistic, sticky syrup, which Mary Ellen captured perfectly.
By choosing a dark background, the viewer is able to focus much more easily on the light reflecting off the plate and syrup.
That ability to capture light is definitely one of Mary Ellen’s strengths. In Spaghetti and Meatballs the background is dark once again to highlight the beautiful light cascading over the food.
The noodles are smooth, the meatballs are covered in thick sauce, and the sprinkled herbs add a touch of complimentary color to add interest to the dish and painting.
This final image is of sushi, and with a great composition. I really enjoy the horizontal, minimal format which—at its most basic—is really just four circles in a row.
The soft blue details throughout this painting bring a sense of coolness, and shows the amazing lengths that Mary Ellen goes to replicate the heat, cold, taste and texture of the food she paints.
If all of this doesn’t make you hungry for more, I don’t know what will! Please visit Mary Ellen’s website to see more of her delicious artwork.