Still Lives

[Former_Member]

Hiya,

I'd really like to be able to paint still lives - set objects up and paint them in a sitting or two/three , but I have no idea how to paint them-for some reason it's so much harder than portraits and mine look a mess!

How to initially lineate areas into blocks and shapes of colour, how to make a composition work, how to choose a finite colour palette,...so many questions to be solved!

I've read a few 'how to' painting books but still can't quite get it.

So for those of you who have painted still lives, I wonder if you have any handy hints about observational painting?

Thank you! :)

[smallimpressions]

Your portraits and drawings are beautiful! I would guess that you will be able to transition to paint quite easily with some practice. What kind of paint do you want to use? Oil, watercolor, acrylic, etc., are all quite different and require different approaches.

[Former_Member]

Ah thank you Nancy! Yours are amazing, they seem to catch the essence of the thing.

Well, I would like to paint in oils ideally, and become fluid with them. right now for portraits I'm using a dammar, linseed and turps medium which is working quite well for me - not too thick and should do for small paintings of objects I think.

[Former_Member]

hoping more will post for this discussion.....I have a hard putting things together in a pleasing way.....I would love to hear more

[dalystudios]

I wish I could neatly summarize this for you, but it's so intuitive. First of all I find something that I reeeeeeallly have to paint..something that excites me and I positively must share. That emotion fuels the whole process. What is it about that "thing" that I want other people to see? I find a FEW (operative word) simple objects to include in the arrangement..things that have colors and shapes to complement the star..and I am off and running.

[Former_Member]

Yes, perhaps that is what it is - I find it hard to connect to the things that I'm painting, albeit a selection of pleasing objects. Food for thought, thank you.

[Former_Member]

Christine
love the way you go about it
I'm going to try that....pick out something I love and so need to paint then go from there
Thanks so much

[smallimpressions]

Sounds like you are struggling with composition. Have you looked at any books that discuss composition and design? You might also check out some of Carole Marine's Art Byte Tutorials. They are inexpensive and packed with information. The one on Composition is only $10.00 and summarizes basic guidelines quite well. You can find the Art Bytes here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/ArtTutorials/ArtByteStore

[SKColeArt]

Beatrice, you can't go wrong with studying The Golden Mean, the ancient Greek theory and practice of composition and harmony that almost all great Western art is based upon. The Italian painter Morandi was a master of the Golden Mean style of composition for still lifes.

Google Morandi and Golden Mean for more information.

[Former_Member]

Of course! I think the main thing must be composition.

I completely forgot about the Golden Mean. I'll look up Morandi :) I think once I get more fluid composition, the painting process itself *should* become easier and I guess everything else, colour mixing etc will probably fall into place if the composition's interesting.

Cheers!

[SKColeArt]

Here's a wikipedia article about Morandi if you are interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%27Natura_Morta%27,_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Giorgio_Morandi,_195...

Notice how in the painting in the link, the two strong verticals are balanced by the smaller vertical in the middle, and the two smaller horizontals in the back. Then the strong dark value (the tall bottle on the left) is balanced by the dark value of the shadows on the right. It's pure balance in both composition and values.

[Former_Member]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106553012/original-oil-painting-still-life-in

[SKColeArt]

That's really nice Svetlana.