Three Pumpkins on Autumn Leaves

Three pumpkins, no setting. One large in the center with a long curling stem, two smaller flanking it, all sitting on a bed of scattered maple leaves against a dim greenish-brown background. A few yellow leaves dangle in from the upper right corner.

The whole piece is studio-still-life simple. The pumpkins want graduated oranges — pale on the lit ribs, deep amber in the shadow grooves — and the rest of the page is a forgiving carpet of fallen leaves you can treat loosely. Quick to start, satisfying to finish.