still life in the studio

I have always been drawn to still life works. It is how I started painting and drawing, it was my main focus at college and I have felt for a while the draw to get back to it. So after many years of thinking and pondering if it is a good idea or whether it would be a distraction.. I went for it! It was so refreshing to create in a new way, a different way and to create just for myself.

I knew I wanted to work with fruits and patterns, I went to my local supermarket and picked up lemons, limes, plums, pears and three small floral bouquets. I had some small vases and serving ware at home which I took to the studio alongside some dotty napkins. I think part of the fun of working from a still life is that you get to create your own composition and concept. I had so much fun creating different colour combinations, shapes and patterns to work from. I stacked items on clear boxes for different heights and laid flowers on the table to keep it busy and interesting.

Once everything was all set up, I got out some paper, sketchbooks and a variety of materials; acrylic inks, brushes, pencils, crayons, paint. I started with a quick warm up in my sketchbook, I looked at the still life and then drew with my eyes closed using a stick and ink. Then using a paint brush I kept my eyes on the arrangement in front of me and did not look down at the paper. I find these quick warm up techniques really great at getting you to loosen up and to see things differently.

I ended up falling in love with using a stick and some black ink, so I spent the rest of my time creating studies of the still life simply with these two things.

My drawing is on the left, my friend’s on the right. - great way to spend time with loved ones!

I think it is important to keep things fresh, and to look at things differently every now and then. What I don’t want to do or advise is to keep jumping from thing to thing, when you find your thing make that your main focus. But every now and then try something new or completely out of your comfort zone.