ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• APPLICATION OF
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
• HISTORY &
CHARACTERISTICS
• TALKING AESTHETICS
• PURPOSE
• FRAMEWORK OF
CONCEPT &
TECHNIQUE
• APPLICATION OF NEW
KNOWLEDGE
“The first cut is the deepest,” by Paul Coventry Brown
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• APPLICATION OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
• Render a 3D object
onto a 2D surface
• Contour Technique
• Line Quality
(Weighted Lines)
• Frame of Reference
• Composition
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• HISTORY
The still life painting genre is as diverse as its
history is long. From the times of the
Egyptians when paintings of food and
valuables were depicted on tomb walls to
contemporary still life painting of today, the
genre has always been one that artists turn
to again and again.
Objects that still life painters gravitate
toward are also as varied, from items of the
natural world to those crafted by human
hands. Through them, still life art
compositions articulate ideas about luxury
and excess, religious symbolism, personal as
well as allegorical explorations, and
universal human reflections on life and
death.
Precarious Perch by Sarah Siltala, 2007,
oil on board, 12 x 12.
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• CHARACTERISTICS
• INAMINATE OBJECTS
(not alive, animal or
human)
• DRAMATIC LIGHT
• FOCAL POINT
• CONTRAST
• EMPHASIS
• COLOR
• IMPLIED TEXTURE
• SHAPE & FORM
• SPACE
• VALUE
“Symbolically, artists
and viewers were
interested in the
nature of a flower's
existence—from
freshly cut and
blooming to wilting
and dying—because
of the implied "moral"
lesson behind the
work, namely that life
is fleeting and death, a
certainty”
Still Life with Watch by Willem Van Aelst,
oil on canvas, 1665
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• CHARACTERISTICS
What is this artist saying to us in
this Still Life?
STILL LIFE
Why do you think this artist placed a skull
in this painting? What symbolism do you
think he is implying?
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
VALUE IN GRAYSCALE
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
TINT/ LIGHTER
+ WHITE
SHADE/ DARKER
+ BLACK
VALUE IN COLOR SCALE
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
VALUE IN COLOR
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• AESTHETICS
1.
What is the Emphasis of this
painting? Consider the artist
use of lighting, does it
confirm your idea of
Emphasis?
2.
How do you think this
painting looks?
1.
What do you like that is
going on in the picture?
2.
What basic shapes or forms
are you seeing in the art?
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• AESTHETICS
1.
What forms do you
see?
2.
Can you imagine
what forms or 3D
objects that are
mundane that these
could be?
STILL LIFE
ART I
UNDERSTANDING STILL LIFE
• APPLICATION OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
• Render a 3D object
onto a 2D surface
• Contour Technique
• Line Quality
(Weighted Lines)
• Frame of Reference
• Composition
STILL LIFE