The Oh-So-Boring Still Life

I don't know too many painters who get jazzed about painting still-lifes. They aren't very exciting to paint, and they aren't usually very fun to look at, either.

You can't hide poor drawing skills or shoddy compositions with a still-life. That's why so many students have to paint them; they are useful for building skill under the watchful eye of a professor.

Needless to say, I've done my fair share of them, and I thought it would be fun to share them, complain about them, and maybe even mention some ways to make them NOT so boring.

Vegetables, 2010, acrylic on paper, 16" x 20"

Group your items in threes. For some reason, the eye likes to see things in three; it's a satisfying number, easy to balance.  Make sure there's some diagonal lines in the composition to help the eye move through the scene and keep it from being too static. Another good tip: let some elements leave the edges of the composition, like the carrots in Vegetables.
These rules are very BASIC, and a skilled painter can and should break them. For example, maybe you WANT to create a sense of unbalance or a static, enclosed scene.

Fruit, 2010, acrylic on paper, 16" x 20"

 For Fruit, I focused on shading and highlighting the fruit to make it look as real as possible. I also tried to play up complementary colors, such as between the yellow of the apple and the reddish purple of the table, and the red apple and the green bowl. Points of contrasting color can create visual interest.
 Bonus tip: go grocery shopping! Find pretty stuff to paint, and have lunch the next day.

Stripes, 2010, acrylic on paper, 16" x 20"

Stripes is all about complementary colors. The professor's assignment was to prime the paper black, then do an under-painting in opposite colors. The tomatoes were first painted green, the bowl was originally red, the striped wall was orange... you get the idea. When the final colors are applied, the under-painting shows through in spots, which makes the colors appear more vibrant. This is NOT my favorite painting, but the technique was interesting, and fun.

Jessica's World, 2010, watercolor, 16" x 20"

This is where it gets much more interesting. This painting is actually a still-life. My artist friend, Jessica Sharpe, had made little ceramic sculptures that resembled mushrooms with horns sprouting from them. While cleaning house to prepare for a move to grad school, Jessica wanted to unload these little guys. I volunteered to adopt them; they were kinda cool. I arranged them on a table top, threw a sharp light on them, and drew them into a sort of surreal landscape. It's sort of an homage to my friend's twisted imagination.

Inheritance, 2010, acrylic on paper, 16" x 20"

The assignment for Inheritance was to create an autobiographical still-life. Most students chose to paint their i-pods and/or their favorite shoes- boring! I wanted to paint something that would still be significant to me when I'm old and gray, so I went with an ancestral theme. The painting in the background was painted by my paternal grandmother, and the frame was built by her father (his wedding portrait is in the red frame on the right); she gave it to me as a wedding gift. The dresser is part of a bedroom set which originally belonged to my maternal grandparents. The books are symbols of what I've learned from my family; some of them are antiques given to me by a great Aunt. The bottle of whiskey is Crown Royal, the favorite of my paternal grandfather, who had just passed away before I painted this. The leaves are from a plant I took home with me from his funeral. I painted it in warm colors, with softened shadows and highlights, to convey a sense of nostalgia.

I still don't really care much for still-lifes. I cope with the lack of excitement by choosing subjects that I like, and I focus on painting them with as much skill as I can. Some day I'm going to have to expect my own students to paint still-lifes, and I hope they see merit in it, like I do.