Painting The Life Around You

  Setting up a still-life, picking the props, figuring out the best lighting, the best angle to view it from are all part of what goes into a painting. Elegant objects? Ordinary objects? Related objects? 

          Some think still-life painting is the simplest to paint; it can be the most challenging, most rewarding, and most developing.  Arranging the objects into a composition, considering the effects of lighting on the objects plays into how viewers read the still-life. Taking ordinary objects and capturing one's interest is very challenging.  Painting still-lifes greatly improved my landscape paintings and my figure paintings and it improved my editing when out on-the-spot painting. Editing is what makes for a good plein air artist. 

          Recently I got a postcard from an artist who relies on copying photos exactly. The painting on the card was done rather well, a pretty scene, a beautiful scene in fact, but very common. The artist hadn't taken that extra step to raise his painting above the ordinary. With the number of artists out there, it is important to be able to get something extra into each painting. Settling for simply copying a good photo isn't going to make it. Worse is taking a photo off the internet. I see these paintings done from photos put out there for artists to use. It sounds like a good way for learning how to paint, but that's all it is. The lighting is all done for the artist, the pose is all done and where is the connection between the subject and the painter? Artists who copy from internet photos most have no life. My friend Chris used to use photos off the internet and recommended the practice to his friend. I convinced him to try doing a painting of his back yard and he loved it so much! He has become a better artist and is now represented by a gallery. People want to know who you are and painting the life around you is more interesting than painting a pretty girl you don't know. Show off your mind by revealing life around you. Let people see the junk, the clutter you collect, and the strange people in your life.

Full moon over st. mick's church

Putting that little touch of oneself into a work of art is what raises the bar. Whether it be a portrait, landscape or a still-life, that touch can put a good painting over the top. It's what makes for great art and great artist. Beautiful women are a favorite subject of many artists and beautiful scenes top the list of many landscape painters. The Grand Canyon is one of the most painted places in the world. Some painting competitions have separate awards just for paintings of the Grand Canyon. 

         Great artists do not rely on their subjects alone to carry their paintings, they find ways to add interest and drama to their work - an edginess. Dark forbidding skies can increase the drama of an ordinary scene, deep blue skies with puffy white clouds can add the feel of wind or the heat of a summer afternoon to an ordinary painting. Backlighting adds drama to a simple portrait. Lighting from below can add interest to a girl's face. We all see these beautiful places and gorgeous girls. An artist adds that little bit of the unusual - that little something of himself to his subjects. An artist will study a scene for days before finding the right time of day to do a painting of it. How often do people see their favorite places at twilight after a rain? Artists can capture such moments and sights. A face dripping with water in a rain storm, or the wonder on one during the forth of July fireworks. These treats of the unusual come along so seldom people hold them inside and bring them out when in need of comfort. I like to bring out my visual treasures onto my canvases, reliving these moments everyday in my studio.

          Two nights ago it was the full moon over St Mick's Church. The silhouette of the Church Steeple and the pale white moon floating in an indigo sky. I thought of my friend Ronnie who alerts me to such sights and ideas of how to incorporate all this into a figure painting began to come into my head. Pulling over I took in this inspiring scene for 30 minutes. Will any of the ideas I played with make it to a canvas? I do not know, but working on such ideas strengthen my imagination.