Advanced Still Life Painting: Paint Your Own Expressive Art

Now it's time to do some real designing. To do it I will use thumbnail sketching with practice paper and compressed charcoal.

The three main layouts are;

• Landscape

• Portrait

• Square

When approaching a new subject you can easily determine which layout you would like to use. If you are unsure of which one to use then add some other layout options on the paper.

For this painting I've determined landscape layout.

When you start the sketching always consider the following techniques used in this demo;

• Always reduce your subject and objects within it to basic geometric shapes. These can be rectangles, squares, ovals and so on.

• Start with the longest line/shape. In this case it was the table top.

• Now add the next biggest shape and work your way down to smaller shapes.

• Try several design possibilities by moving shapes around within the frame.

• This is the key to discovering new ideas that will payoff for the life of your art career.

Practice is always key to developing design skills. At first it can seem pointless. It's also common to become lost along the way.

That's when you revisit the course and watch these lessons again, and again. This will help remind you of what you are trying to accomplish, and why you are doing it.

Once you make a decision on a final design it's time to take the next step.

Demo image Attached

Now it's time to refine the design.

When doing this you need to decide on a few factors.

• What size will the final painting be (11x14", 20x24", etc.)

• Reduce the scale of the final dimensions to a size that's conducive for drawing the final design.

• For most medium and small canvas sizes you can opt for about half the size. For example an 11x14 will recede to 5.5x7.

• It's important to design with the frame. If not you will end up cropping, or compressing shapes into the final painting.

• As with the thumbnail sketches I will start with the largest line/shape and work my way down to smaller ones.

• Consider including a variety of shapes. A well designed painting includes various sizes that are arranged in a compelling way.

• The goal is to spot potential problems now so that you don't hate valuable time and materials creating a poorly composed painting.

Demo image Attached

Now that the design is complete we can turn our attention to creating the final painting.

Here are some important steps and techniques used in this painting.

• The abstract beginning is created with leftover paint that was smeared on an 11x14" piece of Bristol paper.

• A fan brush is used to apply the first layer of paint.

• Because I have invested time in the design process I can work quickly and fluidly without including a layout drawing.

• Refining colors at this stage is pointless. I tend to avoid choosing colors that I want in the finish stage. 

• By opting for imperfect colors it will allow me to add additional layers which has a more dynamic look.

• Because the background hue will eventually be a dark blue I've chosen a warm ochre as a base. This will help pop the blue once it's added later on.

• Be sure to allow the first layer to completely dry before moving into the second layer. This will help you avoid muddy colors plus it's advantageous for creating depth in the art.

• Manage your palette along the way! If it gets too crowded, or you run out of mixing room simply wipe it off, or better yet, smear it on a blank canvas/paper. That's exactly how I achieved the beginning of this painting.

• If you do this often you have an open and clean palette with fresh colors.

• Brush management will help you avoid muddy art as well. Clean regularly and especially when you switch hues.

• If an area of color becomes flat try adding subtle hue shifts. You can consider making it lighter, darker, more saturated etc.

• Avoid pure and intense colors at this stage. Save them for the finishing touches.

• Remember the deign! Are you including a good variety of shapes and you go?

• As the painting progresses you can begin to define hard edges and add more saturated hues.

• Be sure to leave some of the first layer visible as you go. Avoid covering the entire previous layer. Leave bits and pieces so that the painting has a layered look.

• Balance hard and soft/lost edges as you go. Avoid defining every single edge. But remember you need some definition, too. The key is to make objects believable and more visually appealing so the viewer sees the literal object but leaves some room for the imagination as well.

• The final stage is typically used to adjust colors and shapes. It's easy to overpaint so try to be stingy with your strokes and only address what's absolutely needed!

Finished painting attached

This design is all about simplicity. Both in shapes and colors. To pull this off you will need to get certain design aspects spot on!

In this design overview I will go over some of the design methods I will use so that you have a good idea on where my mind is when laying out the shapes.

Design Process

• As with the previous thumbnail tutorial I will use a smaller frame that reflects half the size of my finished painting.

• It's good to create at least two thumbnail frames so you have a few options to work with. That way if your original idea didn't work, or needs tweaking, it's easy to move to the second frame.

• Remember to reduce objects into basic geometric shapes if possible.

• Scale is important and for this painting it needs to be perfect!

• By this I mean the size of each shape and how it relates to the frame.

• When working with a simple composition you need to balance positive and negative space(s).

• Too much negative space and the subject is lost.

• Too little and it looks like a detailed image of a larger scale painting.

Demo images Attached

This painting and design is all about simplicity. Both in shapes and colors. To pull this off you will need these to be spot on!

In the video I will go over some of the design methods that will be used so that you have a good idea on where my mind is when laying out the shapes.

This demonstration will incorporate acrylic, ink and collage. Again, its simplicity is balanced with a good design and expressive techniques. An easy design isn't necessarily easy to pull off. It can actually be more difficult because you have to paint it with confidence, finesse and style to make it interesting.

Here are some key steps taken to create the final painting.

• I used lime green acrylic ink as a toner for the paper. This will add a colorful base for the blue hues that will be applied later on.

• Much of that ink is removed when the paper towel is used to blend the ink. But it leaves a limey hue which is what I wanted.

• Compressed charcoal is used to add the design.

• Watercolor is applied directly from the tube onto the surface. It's done somewhat strategically so that the light hue is in light and the darker hue is in shadow.

• Collaging is used to add a layer of golden yellow to the lemons.

• Leave some of the first layer visible as you go. I mention this a lot because it's so easy to cover every thing.

• Add slightly different hues of blue to create more interest in the background.

• Use your fingers to smooth out hard edges.

• A paper towel works well for blending and smoothing out areas as well so long as the paint isn't dry.

• Collaging is used to add details on the knife and lemons.

Demo Image Attached

In this design I will use a strong oval shape within a rectangle which is the frame.

I will also use multiple images but keep the shapes minimalistic. So, very few objects and arrangement in a compelling way.

I will also showcase a warm palette that will be balanced with subtle touches of cooler hues.

In this design I will use a strong oval shape within a rectangle which is the frame.

I will also use multiple images but keep the shapes minimalistic. So, very few objects and arrangement in a compelling way, that's the objective!

I will also showcase a warm palette that will be balanced with subtle touches of cooler hues.

Design Process

• In this design I will use a square layout. The final painting will be 14x14" so the thumbnail will be 7x7". Use two layouts so you have a few options.

• Start with what shapes will be included. As you will see in demo I represented the table with an oval, the vase with a rectangle and so on.

• Once you know the shapes you're working with you can go to the next stage and that's arranging them within the frame.

• Starting with the largest shape, or line, I begin to add it to the frame. As with previous demos I work down to the smaller shapes.

• It's good to do several sketches even if you find a design early on that works, When you are on a roll why not find a few more potential designs for future paintings?

• Once I have a design that looks good it's time to move to the final painting.

Demo images Attached

Time for the final painting. Here are some key points from the demo.

• This painting is started with some random strokes and hues applied with a fan brush.

• The strokes are softened with a wet paper towel and blended into the surface.

• Then a wet brush is used to drop some water into the wet paint. A paper towel is used to lift some more paint.

• Now the design is added using a liner brush. As always it's good to work large to small when adding the shapes and lines.

• The first layer is added very loosely with the fan brush. 

• As I mix colors I'm careful to use warmer hues.

• There are subtle color shifts as I go. I recommend you avoid using the same hue over and over. Try to add a touch of other colors to the main mixture to create a slight shift in hues. This makes the painting more interesting and will help avoid a flat finish.

• The first stage should be considered a block-in. Very rough around the edges.

• Once the block-in is complete allow it to dry!

• The second layer is used to add more saturated colors and define some hard edges.

• Cooler hues are added to the shadow areas and table top.

• Darker values are added to the background which help anchor the flowers and table.

• Because the dull hues were used in the previous layers I can start to add more saturated

• colors to add some pop the painting.

Demo image Attached