CLASSIC STILL LIFE PAINTING:
a contemporary master reveals
how to achieve Old Master effects using today's art materials.
Classic Still Life Painting is about how to create an oil painting by using an updated version of the under-paint and glaze technique of the Old Masters to create glowing, luminous color that translates the beauty of light and color. Using this technique creates paintings that seem to radiate light from within. It is the technique that was used by the master painters of the past because it created exceptional color with great control, but it has been neglected today primarily because artists believe that the drying time of oils and glazes is too slow and tedious causing paintings to take too long to complete. Today though, it is possible to create the same richness and glow using faster drying mediums that allow the artist to complete their painting in a span of time that is more suitable in our fast paced world.
Unpleasant odor keeps some people away from painting with oils, but practices that are safe and very nearly odor free are presented in this book.
I take the reader through my process of photographing the subject and why I use that process to get photographs that can support the demands of drawing and painting with accuracy. In addition to photographs, I show the color notes that I make which allow me to capture the actual color that lured me to the subject in the first place. Color photography has its uses, but the color becomes too subjective in that process, so "color notes" made from the real objects allow me to recreate it long after the light and set-up are gone. Next, I present my drawing/drafting process to create a finely tuned and accurate drawing that can be used as a tool and road map for the painting.
The largest part of the book consists of detailed step-by-step demonstrations using oil paints and the under-paint and glaze technique that break down the process into easily understood and fixable steps. (I think that half of learning how to do something is how to fix the inevitable mistakes.) Creating form and light occurs in the first step that uses only value. This allows the artist to paint a foundation for the painting with confidence. The intricacies and problems of working with color are handled in subsequent layers and are presented in steps that show the reader how the layers are applied, why they were chosen and what illusion they create. Lots of close up details are used to show exactly what was being done and why. The glazing technique is updated using a fast drying medium so that subsequent layers an be done in a day or two and unpleasant odors are minimized.
Varnishing is the final step in making a painting and I show that process using a product that is easy to work with, archival and removable.
This book takes the reader through EVERY step of the process to create a painting that has glowing color. It is about the construction of a painting from the foundation up and how to get that foundation right. This technique makes oil painting so simple and safe that it can lure artists from other media to the best media of all, oil paint!
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