Tag: food

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Tabasco Gone Sideways (Tabasco Sauce Bottle) Painting -Time-Lapse Video

tabasco bottle still life painting

Tabasco Speed Painting – The Making of ‘Tabasco Gone Sideways’

Tabasco Speed Painting by contemporary artist Bart Carels. A bold little still life that flips the script — literally — by tilting a classic bottle of Tabasco hot sauce on its side. The result? A quirky, color-rich painting with strong contrast and a laid-back vibe.

Title: ‘Tabasco Gone Sideways’
Artist: Bart Carels
Year: 2020

Process & Approach

I’ve seen a lot of Tabasco paintings over the years, so I knew going into this that the subject wasn’t groundbreaking. To make it more fun (and more challenging), I placed the bottle on its side. This messed with the symmetry and forced me to really pay attention to proportions and angles. It made things trickier — but also more interesting.

The technique followed the same flow as some of my other recent still lifes. I started by sketching the outlines using a tone already close to the color of the sauce — a mix of Magenta, Yellow, and a touch of Cyan. I filled in the shadows first using that same blend, letting the darker areas define the form early on.

Next, I blocked in the green label, the background, and some depth for the sauce itself. I added just a few hints of text and highlights — no full label details. Because this was a speed painting, I kept the level of detail consistent throughout. Leaving out the small text gave it a cleaner, more graphic look.

Sometimes the best part of speed painting is not trying to get every little thing right. This piece felt loose, warm, and balanced once I stepped back from it. Plus, it was fun to take a common object and give it a literal twist.

Painting Specs

  • One-of-a-kind artwork
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Size: 24×18 cm / 9×7 inches
  • Color Palette: Cyan | Magenta | Yellow | Black | White

Availability

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Yesterday’s Dessert (Two McDonald’s Milkshakes) Painting -Time-Lapse Video

Milkshake speed painting by Bart Carels showing two McDonald's cups in teal background

Milkshake Speed Painting – The Making of ‘Yesterday’s Dessert’

Milkshake Speed Painting by contemporary artist Bart Carels. This quirky still life captures two McDonald’s strawberry milkshakes, leftover from a random late-night snack run during Covid. Painted fast with leftover acrylics and no prep, it’s a loose, playful tribute to pop culture and poor dinner decisions.

Title: ‘Yesterday’s Dessert’
Artist: Bart Carels
Year: 2020

Milkshake speed painting by Bart Carels

‘Yesterday’s Dessert’ – Acrylic on canvas by Bart Carels (2020)

How I Created This Milkshake Speed Painting

This one came straight from real life — and real fast food. One night we went for a drive, didn’t feel like cooking, and ended up in the McDrive. Covid was still going strong, so everything was handed out on trays attached to long sticks. Kind of surreal, to be honest. After regretting my burger choice (the “Double Tasty” isn’t making the list again), I looked down at the milkshakes and thought, “Yeah, that’s a painting.”

Instead of prepping a new canvas, I used what I had from the day before. I grabbed the leftover paint and sketched the composition using Vermillion. That base color still shows through in spots, which actually works well with the yellow M logos on the cups.

To make the cups pop, I added a teal background. The contrast pulled everything forward and made the scene more playful. For the shadows, I used a mix of white, magenta, cyan, and primary yellow — adjusting as I went to keep things loose. The cardboard tray holding the cups got a few darker tones mixed in with magenta and blue for more depth.

This milkshake speed painting stayed rough on purpose. I didn’t want to overwork it. It was about capturing the moment — fast, imperfect, and kind of funny in hindsight. Definitely one of those “accidental favorite” pieces.

Painting Specs

  • One-of-a-kind artwork
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Size: 24×18 cm / 9×7 inches
  • Color Palette: Cyan | Magenta | Yellow | Black | White

Availability

Want more snack-inspired still lifes and quick acrylic sketches? Subscribe below or follow me on social (footer links). New speed painting videos drop regularly.

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Sambal Oelek (Hot pepper paste) Painting -Time-Lapse Video

Sambal Oelek speed painting by Bart Carels

Sambal Oelek Speed Painting – The Making of a Spicy Still Life

Sambal Oelek Speed Painting by contemporary artist Bart Carels. A quick acrylic still life capturing the bold colors and glassy texture of a spicy Indonesian chili paste jar — painted in one session, with loose strokes and saturated tones.

Title: ‘Sambal Oelek’
Artist: Bart Carels
Year: 2020

Watch the Painting Progress

Behind the Painting

This one-day sambal oelek speed painting was a spicy little experiment. It’s one of the most recognizable sambal jars here in The Netherlands, and it felt like a fun challenge to capture the contrast of that glass texture, bold label, and bright red sauce.

I prepped the canvas by mixing gesso with Vermillion, which gave me a warm base layer. From there, I created a quick underdrawing in line only — no shading yet. I like starting this way when time is tight. Once the lines were in place and the proportions felt balanced, I dove into the darker tones of the sambal to build the structure of the jar.

Because I hadn’t yet committed to a background color, seeing the jar’s value range helped me decide. I didn’t stick to the background from the reference photo — instead, I chose something that worked better with the reds and helped the whole piece pop a bit more.

After the background went in, I added highlights and shadows to everything at once. I try to keep the level of detail consistent across the painting — unless I’m intentionally focusing on one area. In this case, the glass jar naturally became the star.

Painting Specs

  • One-of-a-kind artwork
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Size: 24×18 cm / 9×7 inches
  • Color Palette: Cyan | Magenta | Yellow | Black | White

Availability

Want more quick, bold still lifes like this one? Subscribe below or follow me on social (links in the footer) for new speed paintings, experiments, and spicy surprises.

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Herbs and Spices Painting -Time-Lapse Video

Indonesian Spices Speedpainting – The Making of a Still Life

Summary

This Indonesian spices speedpainting by Bart Carels captures the process behind one of his most culturally rooted still lifes. Created in a single session using acrylics and a warm underlayer, it celebrates Indo cooking traditions through expressive, intuitive brushwork.

Title: ‘Herbs and Spices’
Artist: Bart Carels
Year: 2020

How This Indonesian Spices Speedpainting Was Made

The process starts with a canvas prepped using gesso and Vermillion — a base layer I like for the warmth it adds. From there, I loosely sketched the subject using Primary Cyan to check the layout and proportions. I then worked from the background in, layering colors, adjusting light, and building in just enough shape and shadow to keep it recognizable but still raw.

A Personal Story Told Through Spices

What makes this Indonesian spices speedpainting special is the connection to my roots. My dad was born in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and when he moved to the Netherlands in the 1950s, he brought those cultural elements with him. As a result, I grew up with sambal, bumbu, and stories of another home — and that influence now seeps into my work.

This painting features staples like Coriander (Ketumbar), Candle Nuts (Kemiri), Cumin (Jinten), and Turmeric (Kunyit). Not styled on fancy platters, but in the plastic tubs we actually use — just like the ones you’d find in any Indo family kitchen.

Want to See the Final Painting?

This process piece led to a refined still life: Indonesian Herbs & Spices – Original Painting. If you like more polished results, give that one a look.

Painting Specifications

  • One-of-a-kind work (speed painted live)
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Size: 24×30 cm / 9×11 inches
  • Color Palette: Cyan | Magenta | Yellow | Black | White

Availability

Want more like this? Explore the full food & drink painting collection, or follow me on Instagram (footer links) for new work and behind-the-scenes updates.

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“Bell Peppers” Speedpainting Time-Lapse Video

Bell Peppers Speed Painting – Time-Lapse Still Life in Acrylic

Summary

This bell peppers speed painting was a spontaneous still life experiment by Bart Carels. Captured in a short time-lapse video, it shows the fast, layered approach I use when working without an underdrawing — focusing on movement, color balance, and immediacy instead of fine detail. The painting features three peppers placed on a wooden surface and partially wrapped in transparent plastic, making it a fun play on texture, light, and shape.

Title: ‘Bell Peppers’
Artist: Bart Carels
Year: 2020

Behind the Bell Peppers Speed Painting

Instead of taking progress photos, I went straight into a video time-lapse for this one. No sketching, no underpainting — I just started blocking in shapes using color. The goal was to create a finished piece in one go, with no backtracking. First, I added the background and wood grain beneath the peppers. Then came the peppers themselves, and finally the crinkled plastic wrapping that sits lightly over them. Everything needed to be bold but simple, painted efficiently before the paint dried and the daylight faded.

Working fast creates a specific kind of pressure. You think twice before every stroke. You start to trust your eye more than your brush. And while that may sound limiting, it actually opens things up creatively. You’re forced to focus on essentials: shape, light, contrast. There’s no time to fuss over the perfect edge.

Still Life as a Study

Food items, like these bell peppers, often appear in my art because they’re accessible and familiar. But they’re also full of opportunities to explore reflections, color transitions, and layered transparency — especially under artificial light. If you’re interested in a more culturally-rooted approach, check out my Indonesian spices speedpainting as well.

This piece may be small and fast, but it taught me a lot about patience, restraint, and composition. Sometimes, the shortest paintings stick with you the longest.

Painting Specifications

  • One-of-a-kind original artwork
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Size: 24×18 cm / 9×7 inches
  • Color Palette: Cyan | Magenta | Yellow | Black | White

Availability