When I'm painting, my eyes tend to see only the object(s) I want to paint. But when setting up a still life, I have to look at everything in the picture. I can edit extraneous objects on my canvas, but I find it easier to set up a clean cut still life to work from. These photos show the thought processes I go through in deciding how to portray a simple object in still life. How I control the clutter surrounding the object. (Feel free to use these photos as a painting reference or for inspiration.)
Starting Point for a Still Life
Photo © 2010 Tina Jones
This is a photo of a creamer that sometimes sits on my desk as a pen holder. I love the shape and the way the surface catches light, but where it is right now, sitting precariously on the edge of the small shelf, its beauty is obscured amongst all of the surrounding incidental objects. It won't look any better painted, or at least it's not the look I want. So I'll need to move it before I start painting.
Changing the Setting
Photo © 2010 Tina Jones
I decided it needed a different environment with better lighting, so off to the living room it went. This time I didn't think about my original view of the creamer from straight on that caught my eye and took the photo from above. I liked the green of the plant and thought it complimented the red house on the creamer. Still here, there are odd unexplainable objects. What's that sticking out of the front right of the small chest?
And I have to ask myself if this is the most flattering view of the plant too. I also note the angle of the table. I find it unsettling in relation to the side of the photo (this will be the side of my canvas if I painted it.) I'd likely turn this arrangement so that the angle was either straight or much closer to a diagonal. This setting could be dramatic, and if that's what I wanted it would work with some editing out of objects.
And I have to ask myself if this is the most flattering view of the plant too. I also note the angle of the table. I find it unsettling in relation to the side of the photo (this will be the side of my canvas if I painted it.) I'd likely turn this arrangement so that the angle was either straight or much closer to a diagonal. This setting could be dramatic, and if that's what I wanted it would work with some editing out of objects.
Simplifying the Setting
Photo © 2010 Tina Jones
Frustrated over too much information in the background, I took to my kitchen and a clean stove top. There's nothing in this photo but the base and back of the stove and my creamer. To further simplify, I turned this photo to greyscale using some photo-editing software. While this is the type of setup I'd suggest sketching or for a very simple, straightforward painting of a creamer, it is a little too dull for my taste. Also, I can see the top of the creamer, and that is not the view that originally caught my eye. So I'll try something else again.
Picking the Best Option
Photo © 2010 Tina Jones
Taking what I liked of the three photos above, a clean surrounding, the green plant and a straight on view, I went back to the living room. I got down low enough to see the creamer straight on without view of the top. Next, I completely ignore the creamer and look at everything around it. I checked for straight lines of the cabinets through my camera lens and took the photo.
This is my personal pick for the best photo reference for simplicity, beauty and a convincing view. Likely, I'd edit out the back cabinet or straighten the angled lines there, but overall I find this composition most pleasing. And so this will be my starting point for a still life painting of my creamer.
This is my personal pick for the best photo reference for simplicity, beauty and a convincing view. Likely, I'd edit out the back cabinet or straighten the angled lines there, but overall I find this composition most pleasing. And so this will be my starting point for a still life painting of my creamer.
