29
10
Still life is one of the most popular types of painting, it usually depicts a combination of man-made objects and fruits of nature. To create a still life it is not necessary to use oil paints (although this is a classic option) – these paintings are also created with watercolors, pastels, pencils and the like.
There are a number of rules for achieving harmony in the subject – not following them can lead to disappointment with the result. Before you start painting, it won’t hurt to learn about a few subtleties and learn how to apply them.
Important rules for creating a still life painting:
- Don’t arrange your objects in a boring manner-it doesn’t create any interest. Change the level of the objects and the distance between them, use overlap, change shapes.
- A lot of free space – it’s unattractive, you have to fill it with something. Even if you’re only going to have a single vase, use your imagination, including a dried twig and a piece of fabric. Such details would take all the attention away, but you would fill the void on the canvas and create depth in the composition.
- tones – you rarely see a wide range of colors in still life paintings, such paintings should radiate tranquility. Use only 2-3 colors as a basic, add their shades – you should get a richly bright, but not too prominent image. If you want to use more colors, don’t place them in equal quantities, but keep the main color in the picture, which will fill most of the space.
- In addition to the main color must be present the main subject, it will draw the attention of the viewer. Such an item is the center of the composition, the following parts of the still life will complement it in every way. For example: one tall and saturated bud in a bouquet of flowers and several slightly wilted small flowers.
- Move along the still life painting step by step, create the composition step by step.
Creating this type of painting is a more complicated task compared to painting single objects on canvas. In a still life drawing all the objects that are similar to each other with the same subject matter should be united. When arranging, you can add objects different in texture, height, ornamentation. Composition of wooden or clay vessels would be nice to complement the objects of glass with unusual shape, different berries.
A variety of fruits, from pears to oranges, and many vegetables, from cucumbers to cabbage, give the student enormous material for practice in drawing rounded shapes. Simple and complex compositions can be used as models. Sometimes one can decorate a bouquet with berries and different herbs. One can also create a still life from potted houseplants.
Through material objects can learn about a person’s character, to understand their emotions and preferences. Thanks to things you can find out a lot about their owner. Sometimes plaster objects can be added to a still life. Still lifes are very useful for educational purposes because they teach how to draw differently arranged geometric bodies.
