Close to Home - Still Life

I was not sure if there was going to be sufficient interest for me in studing still life subjects but discovered that in the process of searching out interesting objects I was encouraged to view my home in a different way. I started by just sketching various subjects around my home not limiting myself to just still life.

I found this very liberating and fun. I worked with pencil sketches, some with water colour washes and also oil pastels. I found I was seeing and becoming more aware of the every day objects all around me - an infinite number of jewels that could be explored and observed in varying lighting conditions throughout the day.

My children have moved to their own homes but my daughter's bedroom still retains a flavour of her character and contains groups of objects that make me smile. Soft toys and novelty items sit on shelves and other surfaces sharing memories and providing compositions with stories of their own.

Sketching cut flowers exposed me to the aging process of the individual plants. Coming back to the flower arrangement several days after the initial sketches offerred new subjects as yet unexplored.

On receipt of the feedback to Assignment 1 from my tutour I researched, as suggested, the work of Patrick Caulfield (1936 - 2005) and Giorgio Morandi (1890 - 1964). I like the clean lines and even blocks of colour produced by Caulfield in his screen prints. Although I enjoy their simplicity and the associated happy memories of growing up with Pop Art images , I do not see this as a style I want to develop myself. I did however, use this research as inspiration for collage experiments i.e. Bottle on Green Background" and "Mother Hen".

I selected approximate compementary coloured paper from old magazines. Then using one colour for the image and its complementary for the background. To enhance the object I added a black ink outline with a fibre pen and an indication of tone. A single horizontal line behind "Mother Hen" places the object in space. I have subsequently added horizontal, vertical and diagonal black lines to the "Bottle on Green Background" to stop the object appearing to float in space and now it appears to be in a corner (see sketchbook). From this study I went on to reproduce a group of bottles in blue/orange complementary acrylic colours (the colours have not reproduced very well in this blog).

Having completed these early studies I was ready to progress with the "Drawing in Paint" and subsequent "Still Life with Natural Objects" and "Still Life with Man Made Objects" exercises. I decided to follow my tutour's advice and avoid using black pigment for this series of exercises instead mixing the selected hues to achieve darker tones where necessary.

A selection of plastic ducks in my daughter's bedroom caught my eye and formed the basis of the first excercise. I undertook a series of studies before settling on a group of three; one yellow, one blue and one green.

Working on a watercolour paper support, I started by preparing  a ground of white emulsion paint mixed with a little cobalt blue. Onto this ground I drew the outlines of the three ducks and position of the shelf on which they sit with a light wash of paint. I then blocked in the approximate hues of the objects and background areas. I gradually built up the intensity of the hues for the ducks in layers. The green duck being created from a mix of the cobalt blue and orange yellow. Red was used to provide greater warmth to the background, darken the shadow below the shelf and form the orange for the beaks. Shadows and tone were created from blue and red blue washes. Finally highlights and eyes were added to bring the ducks alive.

The next exercice I chose was the "Still Life with Natural Objects". I selected some readily available objects from my kitchen, positioned them on a board and produced a few studies in my sketchbook. Working with pencil, pen, colour washes and acrylic, I studied tone, natural colour reproduction and experimented with composition.

Once I was satisified with the studies I prepared my watercolour paper support as before with a ground of light green as I would be working in reds and oranges. I built up the intensity of the hues adding layers using a moist brush for the smooth pepper and a dryer applied finish on the onion to enable under-layers to show through. Adding blue to the red of the pepper provided the tonal effect. The tonal effect to the multipal colours of the onion were more challenging and also more satisfying to create. I am however disappointed with the shadow cast by the pepper which feels too dense and laboured. The carrots were almost an after-thought but help to balance the composition.

Working with objects that had different textures and shapes as well as hue variations encouraged me to use different approaches to the aplication of paint in this exercise. I also focussed in on a part of the subject which created a more satisfying composition for this work. I was pleased with the final arrangement with the most complex object, the onion, in the foreground. However, I feel that by showing the edge of the supporting shelf in the ducks painting helped to position the objects better than I achieved in this exercise.

For the third exercise I chose "Still Life with Man Made Objects". I carried out a few stuidies including photos, pen and colour sketches before I turned to the work of Giorgio Morandi for inspiration.

 

I completed this exercise to approx. A4 size within my sketchbook so that I would work fast and not get too bogged down with perfecting the outcome. I was pleased with the painterly feel particularly the different tonal effect achieved in the background.

 

Compared to the previous exercise, I felt this was less overworked and still created interest in the hue variations and contrasts within and between the objects their foreground and the background. The shapes and textures of the objects in this last exercise were more complex and challenging than the choice of three similar ducks in the first exercise. I managed to introduce my desire for some fun in both the ducks and use of "Mother Hen" in the final exercise. I felt the exercise with the natural objects was a technical challenge but less motivating than the first and last exercise.