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online tutorialsWork from home in your own time, with me as your guide and tutor to support the development of your creative expression.
You choose which works best for you:
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FREE Painting TUTORIALS – Ideas to get you started
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Bernadette Curtin – Tips On How to set up a still life
In this short audio (approx 5 mins) Bernadette Curtin explains the process of preparing elements for your composition, the lighting, background and more. Listen below to a short description of her introduction to setting up a still life composition for painting below:
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still Life Painting - free tutorial
 Preparatory sketches of your still life
Background
Artists have used the still life subject throughout history for a range of purposes. Beautifully wrought paintings and mosaics at Pompeii tell us about the natural and manufactured objects used in daily life. They are painted with a great degree of realism, and illustrate the wealthy Romans' taste for elegant objects and sumptuous detail. By studying these works, historians can unravel much about their daily life and the values of ancient cultures. Artists have used the still-life as a device to depict religious symbolism and story telling, commenting on the transience of human existence. These works often contained a skull, candles and an open book. Everyday objects gained greater significance beyond their function. Butterflies, caterpillars, fruit, an hour glass or mirror could symbolize ideas such as transformation, change and the uncertainty of life. Flowers also held messages about the seasons, time and religious symbols. More recently, artists have also used still-life to show a poetic simplicity and beauty in everyday objects. 
Different view points, different compositions
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Materials still life objects, plain or patterned fabric for drapery, sketchbook and pencil, small or medium canvas stretcher or paper, acrylic paints, brushes - small medium and large, jar of water, palette and rags. Steps 1 Select several natural objects, for example eggs, seashells, flowers, vegetables and fruit. 2 Select several manufactured objects such as fabric, a bowl, a glass, bottle, ceramic, knife. 3 Compose your objects in an interesting way on your drapery, with larger objects at the back and smaller ones at the front, tilting or placing them in different viewpoints to create a lively composition. Keep in mind that the negative spaces – areas between and around objects are equally as important as the forms. Notice shadows cast. 4 Make several sketches in your sketchbook, like simple cartoon drawings, trying different viewpoints, looking down upon the objects or from the left and right as well as front-on. Make notes about shading and shadow as well as the places where light hits the objects. 5 Choose one of these drawings as the basis for your painting and then paint a background wash of thin paint onto the canvas using a soft grey or raw umber. 6 Next draw the composition onto the canvas using a neutral colour such as raw umber or yellow ochre. 7 Fill in each of the forms using dark, middle and light tones of the same colour. Try to cover the whole painting with paint at this stage, rather than becoming fixated on one object. 8 Stop regularly to step back and look at your progress, and to make adjustments or decide on the next step. 9 Now add more subtle details, texture, shadows and highlights using thicker paint. Add the highlights (where light is reflected) with white paint. 10 You might also consider scumbling, dry brushwork, blending, and/or freer use of line to complete the painting. |
Have fun, be adventurous and be prepared to experiment with new ways of painting.
Completing the painting
Taking my sketchbook for a walk - free tutorial
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Take yourself and your sketchbook and pencils to your local park or beach.
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1 – Walking
Walk around the park in an anti-clockwise direction. Walk you, with no other purpose than to be you. Feel how the body feels when you are just walking for you. Notice what is around you as you walk - birds, cast shadows, tree trunks, plants etc...notice the temperature of the air..... When you have walked, find a seat or spot to sit. 2 – Getting Started Open your sketchbook. Allow your eyes to receive what is in front of you. Choose a point of interest in front of you, and allow the eyes to rest there. It might be the point where a trunk meets earth, or the edge of a shadow, where sand meets water.....place a dot on your page to mark this spot. Hold your pencil with love, lightly. |
3 – Let's Draw
Just spiraling out with your eye slowly, adding a bit more information on the sketch page, like little pieces of a jigsaw being put together. Keep your eyes on the subject as much as you are able. Pause. Take your eye back to where you left off, and record a little more of what you are seeing. Draw as if you have unlimited time, not aiming to finish the drawing. Keep adding more marks or lines to record what is there. 4 – Let Go of all expectation, judgement, speediness, impatience......! Just observe how the body is feeling right now. Feel your hands and how you are holding the pencil. Stop when you feel to. |