Blog #2 -- April 2013

Oil Painting -- Still LifeStarting with the Background as the Subject

Sometimes when I start thinking about painting a new still life, the subject matter eludes me for a little while and I have to revert to one of my more non-traditional still life painting techniques: I paint

backgrounds! Usually two or three canvases at a time; I find this method very rewarding as it allows me to concentrate on creating textural surfaces and interesting environments. Often the background I come up with dictates what the subject matter will be. The first background above became the setting for a glass bottle and a grouping of onions and garlic. Perhaps the pitted stone wall and simple grey/green backdrop cried out for a simple, almost monochromatic treatment, whereas in the second example on the right, the warm sienna/ochre tones inspired a more complex arrangement of gourds, vase, bowl and drapery (obviously not yet visible in the painting).

The background on the left was painted on a 20 x 16 inches wood panel. In step one I divided the vertical board into two sections, painting a grey/green background wall and a grey/violet stone base. I was aiming for a simple rustic quality to the painting without even thinking of the subject at this stage. Using the

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edge of a metal painting knife, I created dark and light dents and scrapes over the stone base to give a natural weathered look and to contrast with the starkness of the back wall. It took about two hours to complete the background using various mixes of yellow ochre, sap green, alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, charcoal grey and titanium white. All the paints used throughout the painting were Winsor & Newton.

In step 2 on the left, I transferred my drawing onto the board using reverse transfer paper (which gives a white outline of the subject). Next, using my reference photos of the onion/garlic/bottle setup (I had previously photographed and sketched), I established a neutral undertone painting from a mix of burnt umber, charcoal grey, a little ultra-marine blue and alizarin crimson, yellow ochre and white. At this stage I am simply focusing on light and dark values and adjusting the amount of white in the mix for the highlights.

I used two Escoda #2 round brushes for the un-dertone painting. (one for light values and one for dark).(Step 2)After completing the Grisaille underpainting, I started glazing with a mix of burnt sienna, yellow ochre, sap green, cadmium yellow and cadmium

red, and continued drybrushing white into the light areas. The cloth glaze contains a mix of yellow ochre, burnt sienna, grey, cobalt blue and alizarin crimson. Pure white was again brushed and blended into the cloth. A little ivory black was used to darken the shadow details on the glass bottle.

After the layer had dried, I glazed and drybrushed again using the same colour palette.

I continued in much the same way (drybrushing and glazing) as above, detailing each element of the painting and developing high contrast with dark tones set against highlights.

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Materials Used in the Painting

• 20 x 16 inch wood panel (gessoed and sanded several times with white acrylic gesso) • One sheet reverse transfer paper• White pencil• Flat brushes for painting background and cloth • Soft, flat brush (Dynasty) #12 Black Silver • Round brushes (Escoda) # 1 & 2 (two of each brush)• Paints: Winsor & NewtonYellow ochre Charcoal greySap green Titanium whiteBurnt umber Cobalt blueAlizarin crimson Ultramarine blueBurnt sienna Cadmium red

Almost there... in the final stages of the painting.