A Tryst with the Reality!

Painting real objects fall under the class of Still-life paintings. Still life paintings involve painting inanimate objects either chosen from nature (like flowers, foods, rocks, shells, plants etc) or man-made (glasses, vessels, jewelry and so on). It can be done either using live arrangement of materials or using a reference photo. Painters usually prefer the former over latter as it allows clearer and deeper appreciation of colors and changing hues unlike photos which mute colors often. 

Still-life painting allows the painter to open and savor his creative vista unlike landscape where he has no control over the scene. Also, there is no limit to creativity both in materials and in the composition making each painting unique and an experience by itself. Painting real, live subjects always is amazing. Some of the paintings leave one ever-dumb at the way it can cheat the mind to mimic reality. There is a subset in these called ‘hyper-real’ or ‘photo-realistic’ works where man’s skill seems to have excelled to an extent where it is impossible to differentiate it from a photo.

Following are the points that helped me while painting‘still-life’ subjects.

• When working with live objects, concentrate on arrangement, composition. If from photo, use a photo which satisfies above criteria. The whole arrangement needs to be unified.
• Decide on the center of focus. Let all the objects be not equally lit.
• Concentrate on distinctive shapes of materials.
• Include the surface on which the objects rest in the painting.
• Use materials with harmonious colors bringing in complimentary colors to create interest.
• Paint the shadows as seen.

These points when followed diligently are bound to turn dull, lifeless objects into magnificent piece of fine art. Following are the results of my tryst with reality. Hope you enjoyed them. Happy painting!