Tag Archives: still life

Still Lifes in Oil ~~ Dried Plants and Household Treasures

Here are two of my favorite still life compositions, ‘homework’ painted in oil under the guidance of Ed Praybe. He’s a fabulous painter and equally great teacher. Check out his site.

Dried onion stalks and ceramics. Oil on Arches huile paper. 8 x 16.
MomMom’s Pitcher, Ceci’s Scissors. Oil on Arches huile Paper. 12 x 16.

Fun with Compositions

Our most recent Ed Praybe session called for considering types of compositions ~~ various ways to position the components of the painting so as to produce an intended effect on the viewer. We each selected two objects and then experimented moving them around to see how many different ‘stable’ or ‘dynamic’ compositions we could produce. We then painted one of them, using our primary triad of yellow, red and blue.

For homework, we had to paint three objects into a stable composition and then reposition them and paint a dynamic composition. Still using the primary triad color scheme.

Watercolor experiments with the primary colors

Recently our class with Ed Praybe focused on painting a wide range of hues using only 3 colors – a ‘primary triad’ of red, yellow and blue. As you may remember, I’ve used such severely limited palettes many times, but only in oil paints so far. It was fun to try it with watercolors.

We did a test painting, blending the three colors before applying them to the paper. Our homework was to paint three versions of a still life setup: one monochrome to analyze the value (light and dark) structure of the scene; a second in which we mixed the colors before applying them to the paper; and a third in which we applied single color washes; let them dry completely, and then painted additional single color washes on top. This last technique creates new colors as the several layers combine optically.

Final Post on Day 7 ~~ Shells and Pearls

It was Day 7 (and I was in a chatty mood): Hmmmm. Here’s a little still life I did day before yesterday. Dear cousins want oysters & pearls for their daughter’s new office. This was the first take; am now working on something bigger with a single oyster. Will share when it’s done.In the meantime, what are your thoughts on my current dilemmas: I set the oysters up on a white tablecloth (bottom photo), but the first cut was perhaps too monochrome & bland; so in the next pass I pushed the cloth toward lavender. I think it may now be ‘too too’. The background behind is probably too similar. Finally, the cloth, as painted, is wonky & needs to be reshaped & redone in any event. Ideas, y’all???

Shells and Pearls. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 10 x 12.

Paintings 24 & 25. Mock ‘Frescoes’ of Gouache Painted into Damp Plaster

I’m currently taking a class on mixed media and was intrigued when teacher Susan Hostetler mentioned “mock frescoes”, made by painting gouache into still-damp spackle or joint compound slathered onto cardboard or other heavy substrate.  I decided to try it.  My first attempt was a simplistic sugar bowl sitting on our kitchen table.  My quick contour was misshapen, so I touched it up with some water-soluble pencils, moistening the marks to blend them into the gouache.

I then plopped down a seashell (interesting shape though dull colors) and tried again.  I was happier with that one, though disappointed when a little flake popped out sometime later.  Maybe a fixative would deter this type of defect — will have to research it. . . .

 

Painting #23. Another Experiment ~~ 15-Stroke Shells!

Sometimes it’s fun to challenge yourself:  can you make a painting in a very limited number of strokes?  Say, 15?  I decided to try it the other day.  I placed three shells from my beach-combing stash on a sheet of paper and attacked, carefully plotting color and placement of each stroke.  At 15, I was itching to do ‘just a few more’ to beef it up ‘just a bit’, but gritted my teeth and concluded the effort.  Here it is, along with a snap of the shell subject.

In keeping with the spirit of the test, I made only a few light guidelines for size and placement, before constructing the design via ‘color-shapes’.

 

Painting #18. Toothiness I ~~ the Start of Another Intermittent Series

My hubby and I stick our toothbrushes into a tarnished old holder in between brushings.  Awhile back, I started paying attention to how they’re standing ~~ are they facing each other leaning in for a kiss?  Are they turned away from each other?  Is one facing away while the other looks on?

It’s been fun anthropomorphizing these humble objects.  I’ve even started noticing brush positions at other folks’ homes — family, mind you, not friends!!  I’ve taken photos of some of these little vignettes and even crafted some arrangements.  They’re a form of truthiness — errrr toothiness, right??  Or am I just crazy?

Here’s a painting of our ancient holder and current brushes, from life . . . .

#18. Toothiness I. Oil on Arches Oil Paper. 8″ x 10″.