I have always enjoyed painting and drawing still life compositions. The subject matter is endless. They can be fruit, dishes, flowers, pottery, tools, musical instruments, you name it. You also have complete control over what to put in, where to put it, how to light it and what color background. The light and pose is always the same, the light isn’t changing like outside in the sunlight and objects don’t run away or get tired and shift positions. although in the still life above titled “flowers on the edge” I picked these little wildflowers from the field in the morning and by nightfall when the painting was done so were the flowers. 🙂
I want to do a still life series of paintings of related subjects as a theme. I thought about a series of kitchen related still life’s and have them as a set. (shh don’t tell anyone!)
Setting up a still life box is pretty easy to do. I found a cardboard box around 12 x 12 and opened the top flaps up. Then I taped the edges so they would stay open. A small slit was cut on the top along the edge so I could put mu background cloth through it and down into the box. Any color cloth can be easily installed and a new background color. I place the objects inside the box and I use a clamp work-light to shine into the box for really nice lighting and shadows. You can adjust the light angle for different light effects.
Set the box next to your easel and canvas so they are relatively the same size. You may have to adjust several times to get it close. Find the best composition using a small viewfinder. (there will be another blog on viewfinders) Try different angles and cropping. When you settle on a good composition hold the viewfinder showing you the still life image you want to paint and start to draw it onto the canvas moving your eyes back and forth from the still life box and your canvas.
These are a lot of fun and you can really take your time. Remember as always: Paint.Relax.Repeat.
until next time
Jeffrey J. Bowers