From the Artist: This painting is a free form composition inspired by one of my daughter's vases, some apples, and her first published book. By free form I mean that it is not done from a set-up still life, but composed from sketches, first of all in the form of charcoal sketches then when I'm satisfied with the general layout drawing it onto the canvas. I worked out this method of composition from doing some gestural drawings, which people seem to like as compositions.
From the Painting Guide: This painting reminds me a lot of the work of Matisse, with the elements outlined in black and presented on flat, patterned background.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Illusion of Depth: Using the rules of perspective to create an illusion of depth is only one style of painting. In both medieval and modern paintings in Western art tradition, for instances, artists have presented their subjects without this, in a much flatter, unnaturalistic or unrealistic manner. Traditional Chinese painting doesn't use perspective in this way either.
But let's skip the in-depth analysis of perspective and the use of the picture plane, to rather focus on my key point: using perspective to create an illusion of depth in a painting is but one option available to you. You don't have to divide a painting into a foreground, middleground, and background if you don't want to. You can adapt and change it as you like. Studying the works of artists such as Matisse and Cezanne (and the Cubists if you really get into it) is a good way into 'alternative' ways of presenting elements in a still life.
Arrangement of Elements: Consider how the three elements in this still life -- the book, the vase, and the bowl (with fruit in it) -- are arranged, the shapes they make together and the shapes around them. The tips of the book's cover are just kissing the vase and one of the apple's stem. Look at the small shapes of blue this creates, and consider whether these are a distraction visually or not. (The no-kissing rule of painting composition would have us avoid such small shapes.)
Look at the negative space to the right of the vase and bowl, which is a long rectangle the length of the canvas. Do you think is distracts the eye and needs to be broken up by, say, the bowl protruding into this a little more, or does the shape echo and emphasize that of the vase?
From the Painting Guide: This painting reminds me a lot of the work of Matisse, with the elements outlined in black and presented on flat, patterned background.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Illusion of Depth: Using the rules of perspective to create an illusion of depth is only one style of painting. In both medieval and modern paintings in Western art tradition, for instances, artists have presented their subjects without this, in a much flatter, unnaturalistic or unrealistic manner. Traditional Chinese painting doesn't use perspective in this way either.
But let's skip the in-depth analysis of perspective and the use of the picture plane, to rather focus on my key point: using perspective to create an illusion of depth in a painting is but one option available to you. You don't have to divide a painting into a foreground, middleground, and background if you don't want to. You can adapt and change it as you like. Studying the works of artists such as Matisse and Cezanne (and the Cubists if you really get into it) is a good way into 'alternative' ways of presenting elements in a still life.
Arrangement of Elements: Consider how the three elements in this still life -- the book, the vase, and the bowl (with fruit in it) -- are arranged, the shapes they make together and the shapes around them. The tips of the book's cover are just kissing the vase and one of the apple's stem. Look at the small shapes of blue this creates, and consider whether these are a distraction visually or not. (The no-kissing rule of painting composition would have us avoid such small shapes.)
Look at the negative space to the right of the vase and bowl, which is a long rectangle the length of the canvas. Do you think is distracts the eye and needs to be broken up by, say, the bowl protruding into this a little more, or does the shape echo and emphasize that of the vase?