8x10 inches
oil on panel
gold frame
500.00
Purchase HERE
Painters Tip
More on Still Life
Still life teaches you many things. Spacial relationships between objects, negative space, composition, values,color mixing, drapery, textural changes and of course, any time you can paint from life it's a good idea.
After you gather your materials it's time to try out different compositions and possibilities. Each time you get a pretty good composition, take a quick digital photo of it. Print out the compositional image in grey scale to have a good reference for reading values. You may also want to draw around the bottom of objects on a piece of craft paper. You will have a map for that good composition you can roll up and keep for the future. You never know when you will want to do that exact set up again.
The great thing about still life is that it "aint goin nowhere". You can work on a painting for weeks and your scene will be fresh and new each day. You may have to change out fruits and veges every week but that's easy to do. I discovered quite by accident that artichokes dry perfectly in still life set ups. I have one in perfect condition that is now about two years old.
The other great thing about still life painting is that it teaches you much needed discipline. That is the best part for me. As a landscape painter I am used to moving trees, changing light and doing whatever I want to with my paintings. Still life requires much more discipline and builds technical skills that landscape work would never do. My still life paintings are not all that great, but they teach me a great deal about painting. I don't do them hoping to sell, so they are my study discipline. Occasionally they do sell, which is nice bonus.
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