Recipe for Arranging a Good Still Life

How To Arrange a Still Life

First, a little history. Back in the Rennaissance and Romantic eras of art, still lifes were used to convey the artists talent. So, there were many objects put into the paintings. Also, objects had meaning, for instance a cut open fruit meant resurrection or rebirth. Each flower or insect or nut or whatever had a meaning either religious or social. Pretty interesting! Artists would convey their versatility and knowledge through these paintings. 

The Impressionists pretty much blew all the historic aspects away, and brought a whole new meaning to still life. Their work was immediate. The fruit was on the table, and they probably were going to eat it after they painted it. To them it was like everything else; the light, texture, and personal relationship. 

Then we have the modernists; Warhol (tomato soup can), Georgia O'Keefe (flowers), Jasper Johns (manhole cover), Picasso (many!). They've put their own spin on still lifes each seeing the mundane in our world as something unique, and worthy of discussion and viewing.

Ingredients:

      Objects - Use varied objects that are somewhat related such as:

                        1. Wine bottles, grapes, pitchers, bowls, fall flowers

                        2. Watering can flowers, garden tools, vases, garden gloves

                        3. Teapot, cups, teabags, fruit, bread, doilies, books

                        4. Chopsticks, fish, bowls, sake, cherry blossoms, sculpture

5. Pick one object, and have an assortment of them: bowls, veggies, fruit, ornaments, easter eggs, nuts, geese sculptures... anything!!

Background – It should support the objects in color, subject, or mood:

1. Old wooden panels, flags around nautical elements
2. Lace behind antiques with a vintage shawl,  or brocade
3. Bright colors, a hung sombrero behind Mexican objects
4. Don’t forget to lean or hang things in the back.

Table – Have the objects sitting on an interesting surface with possibly more than one texture, such has wood and cloth, or various fabrics, books and paper laying down flat. Remember, you never have your eyes at the table level so the flat surface has to be addressed as well.

Arrange your objects so they don’t stand or sit tall to short.  Make an interesting visual line along the top of the objects. Try not to put the tallest objects on the ends; it will visually prevent the viewer's eyes from moving around the painting.

Put some things in back and some more forward so the shapes overlap. This will help the viewers eye move through the still life. Arrange the heights in a pleasing manner. If you have boxes or things that open, show some of them in an open position. Things can be tilted, leaning, opened, etc. Foods can be open or in pieces/slices.

View from front and sides, make sure it is visually pleasing. 

Have a good light source so you have interesting shadows, and created depth of form on the objects and background.

Unify with color. Don’t have one object that stands out because of its color. Ex.: if you are working in a palette of yellows and greens, a blue object is okay because you can work the blue into the green objects and vice versa, but a purple object would look out of place, and be difficult to work into the colors. Be thoughtful about the color, but don’t let it rule the arrangement.

Make the arrangement pleasing to you! It should inspire and get those creative juices going.  Solve your problems while you do the arrangement, and your hard work will make the end result just what you want.

Packing for Plein Air

Packing for Plein Aire

As a plein aire watercolor painter, I never seemed to get the results I wanted until I modified my philosophy about why I was doing it. So, why am I painting plein aire? I wanted to be outside in the beautiful weather, I wanted to capture the light and shadows through my own eyes, and I wanted to feel the spontaneity that comes from painting in the immediacy of the moment. My focus is to gather information, make accurate sketches, and capture the impression of what I am seeing. In summary, I am getting down as much information as I can in a limited period of time with simple, portable materials.

What do I take out with me? As little as possible to get the most bang for my buck. I don’t want to carry a lot of heavy, bulky supplies. I want to walk as far as I wish to get the best view. I want a variety of materials depending on what I see and how I feel. My main requirement is that it all fit in an over-the-shoulder carry bag. Here’s the list:

Basic bag – fits comfortably over my shoulder. Mine has a zippered pocket for my keys, phone, and wallet. Durable and waterproof are a bonus.

Portable stool – I have a tripod stool that folds up and is lightweight aluminum. Amazon.com has lots to choose from; type in “portable camp stool”. Golf stores have them too.

9x12 or 11x14 drawing pad (nothing bigger or it’s too bulky – make sure it fits in the bag).

9x12 or 11x14 90# watercolor pad. Canson makes a nice one. You don’t need heavy paper because you’re not going to be doing any “heavy” painting. No Strathmore!

White synthetic eraser – Mars Staetler, or any brand. They’re cheap and they do a great job on any surface. They don’t leave a pink mark like Pink Pearl, and they lift more than a kneaded eraser.

Pencils – 2H for detail, and 2B to get the darks and quick information. Anything else you like, but those two will do it. Automatic pencils are great, but the lead tends to break for me (don’t know my own strength).

Pencil sharpener – A good one is the KUM Automatic LongPoint. It has two holes; one for removing the wood, and one for sharpening

Watercolor pencils – You only need 8: warm red, cool red (dark), warm yellow or ochre, lemon yellow, dark cool blue, warm blue, purple, and a dark green (but you have to promise not to use it as a green!)

A portable watercolor kit. It’s a bit pricey, but I recommend the Windsor Newton Cotman Field kit. It comes with about a dozen half pan colors, a brush, two palettes, two water containers, a sponge, a way to hold it, and all in a space of about 2x1x4”! Talk about portable! The half pans can be replaced and upgraded easily, and some of my friends pop the unwanted colors out, and then squeeze in their colors from their tube paints and let them dry for portability. The best thing about this kit is that it closes up with little mess, and great ease. This is the most portable solution, but there are many options out there. Go with what seems the most practical for you.

Brushes – a #4 round, #8 round, and a ½” flat

Camera!

Odds and Ends – Salt, zoom finder, grey scale (I use a paint sample #780 F from Home Depot with 4 shades of grey on it), qtips, toothpicks, hand sanitizer, bottle of water (two, if you want to drink one!), a few paper towels – just tear them off and fold them up; you don’t need a whole roll, Kleenex, sunscreen, poncho, hat, and bug spray.

Colors on my Palette

Palette Colors

Yellows

Quinacridone Gold - Daniel Smith                          Earth

Nickel Azo Yellow – Daniel Smith                            Cool yellow

New Gamboge - Winsor Newton                             Neutral yellow

Green Gold - Winsor Newton                         (I use as cool yellow)

Oranges                            

Permanent Orange -            

Quinacridone Sienna                                     Earth

Reds

Burnt Sienna (I use as red)                                         Earth

Pyrrol Red, Winsor Red                                     Neutral red

Deep Scarlet - Daniel Smith

Perylene Maroon

Scarlet Lake or Organic Vermillon                           Warm red

Permanent Rose or quinacridone rose                   Cool red

Violets

Magenta - ( staining )

Perylene Violet –

Moonglow -

Shadow Violet

Blues

French Ultramarine -                                     Neutral blue

Manganese Blue                                                 Warm blue

Indigo -                                                             Cool blue (very dark)

Turquoise or Cerulean

Greens

Olive Green - Winsor Newton                            Warm green

Olive Green - Daniel Smith

Prussian Green - Daniel Smith                          Cool green

Perylene Green

Colors I use, but don't keep on my palette:

Rhodolite Genuine            - Daniel Smith

Raw Umber - Winsor Newton

Tips and Techniques for You to Try!

Salt is Not Just for Margaritas

Here's a little information about salt first:

1.The bigger the granule, the bigger the burst.

2.For it to really work well, the paint should be wet on the paper, but not shiny; semi-wet. Salt will just dissolve if the paper is too wet.

3.If you tilt the paper or lift it, the salt will run, and form a shooting star effect.

4.When the painting is dry, be sure to gently scrape off the re-crystallized salt. 

5.Painting with salt will take longer to dry - but don't use a hair dryer. 

6.You can apply salt in a second coat as long as it's a darker color. It's the pigment that makes it work; not the paper.

7.Let each space dry where salt was used before painting in adjoining areas.

8.I apply salt in different ways depending on what I want to accomplish; grain by grain, pinch by pinch, or spread generously.

Now, here's some uses and nice effects:

*Instead of painting every tile or shingle on a rooftop, try putting down the pigment in the space you want to cover, and add a little salt.

*Use salt to create a sense of snow. Popcorn salt and table salt work best. Other granules are too big.

*If you are trying to put bushes in the background, drop some salt along their top edge; it gives the feeling of fine branches.

*Salt along the edge of water on a beach gives the feeling of foam and breaking waves.

*Salt Used in a background can break up the monotony of a color, and contrast with the smooth spaces around it. 

*Salt can break up a flat grassy area, or give a sense of roughness to a path or lane.

Try a Triad

We all love color, and the paint manufacturers sure fuel this passion! I've found that often, you can lose the mood if you put in too many colors (depending of course on your subject and mood!). Here are some interesting combinations to try. Notice that one of the primary colors is usually missing, and that I have substituted a related color instead (example: instead of using a blue, I use a green that leans to the cool (bluish) end of the spectrum. Most of my colors are Daniel Smith (www.danielsmith.com). I can't say enough about these paints, and this American manufacturer; great products, great service. Try these combos on a scrap of paper, and see if you don't get some great mixed colors, too! To help you out, I've listed the colors in columns representing red, yellow and blue:

RED                    YELLOW                      BLUE

Moonglow                 Olive Green                Prussian Green

Perelyne Maroon       Quinacridone Gold       Undersea Green

Quinacridone Sienna  Olive Green                Prussian Green

Imperial Purple          Lemon Yellow            Manganese Blue

Moonglow                 Quinacridone Sienna    Cobalt Blue

Quinacridone Rose      Olive Green               Moonglow          

Often, I add a fourth color in the end for emphasis. I might need a dark, or a warm spot, or a neutral, but these combos are a great springboard to create a mood.

Build Your Painting Like Making a Bed

I often try to imagine how to best describe the process I go through to make a painting. Here's a good analogy - making a bed!

The actual bed frame is the concept and idea for your painting. The box spring is the sketching, color choosing, and design process.

Now the sheets and blankets; each layer of paint represents the making of the bed. Layers of covers, more or less depending on the painting. 

Finally, the throw pillows - detail!

Viola! Your bed is made!