How to draw a still life. Oil painting and watercolor

A sensible artist knows that a still life is born long before the brush touches his hand. In this genre, everything starts with an idea, namely with the ability to compose a composition of objects that can effectively complement each other.

Many comprehend the art of drawing, trying to write a still life. Painting is a much more accurate craft than it may seem at first glance, so let's look at the basic postulates for working in this genre.

Drawing a composition

Deciding to write a still life, it is necessary to take into account several rules:

• To come up with an idea that could link all the components of the composition into a single story;
• Pick up objects, different in size and shape, which could balance the still life. Painting can make the mood in a boring pencil drawing, but no color is able to save the work if all the composition elements have the same appearance;
• It is desirable to pick up all the items in a suitable color scheme, in order to avoid misunderstandings in the mixing of colors after reflexes;
• The experience of many artists allows us to conclude that the paintings look much more effective, where the elements differ in texture and material, for example wood and ceramics;
• Special attention should be given to the background. Drapery should harmoniously fit into the overall idea of a still life and not attract special attention. This is especially true in those cases when the colors of all objects are in pastel colors;
• Do not overload the space with an abundance of elements;
• The light should fall so that the drawing is comfortable with the help of the play of light and shade to display the volume of objects (sometimes it is appropriate to take a photo).

Still life with oil

Oil - the central material in the hands of the artist, which allows to fully reveal the concept of "painting". Still life with oil allows you to vary the texture, creating a surface that is amazing in its smoothness, or rapidly impose voluminous strokes.

Observing the general principles of composition, first prepare the idea of still life, and all the elements participating in it are lined up on a flat surface. Next, a pencil sketch is drawn on the canvas. The uniqueness of oil paints is that they can be mixed right on the canvas. They dry for several hours, so at any time there is the opportunity to make adjustments, the ideas of which can arise when considering work from different angles.

Inalienable attribute of oil paints

It should be remembered, having decided to write a still life, that painting with oil colors implies their constant dilution with turpentine, which has a pronounced smell, so it is better not to paint pictures at home, so as not to suffer later from a headache.

Turpentine needs to be added to the palette every time paint is mixed. To do this, before you apply a new color, you need to rinse the brush in it and then wipe it with a cloth. At first, it is better to avoid working with a very thick oil, giving preference to more liquid options.

Another fundamental difference of this artistic material is the ability to mix paints by overlaying them on each other on the canvas itself, bypassing the stage of working with the palette, however, for this it will be necessary to stock up with fan brushes.

Painting in watercolor. Still life

Watercolor technique differs significantly from oil technology not only technically, but also in mood. Air lightness, subtle haze, a unique gradient - that's a small part of the associations that causes painting with watercolor. The still life, made with the help of these paints, is not inferior to the oil one by its beauty, and even surpasses the aesthetic component even though it is only a matter of taste.

Watercolors during work dissolve in water, forming a transparent pigment, imparting weightlessness and refinement to the image. The technical feature of this painting technique is that it depends on the relief of the paper on which the paints are applied.

Watercolor significantly expands the aesthetic horizons of people learning the art, allowing you to comprehend the depth of the surrounding beauty. The first strokes of artistic understanding of watercolor ideology are ideal for drawing still life. Painting by means of these paints differs in their ability to transmit light, and not to retain it as opposed to oil. From this factor, it follows that it is necessary to dispense with constructing a detailed drawing that will be visible under a thin layer of pigment. For beginners in the artistic field, this rule is easiest to perform depicting flowers, rather than three - dimensional geometric shapes. Buds do not require careful construction, but need an optimal comparison of warm and cold shades, allowing them to give volume.

Watercolor still life - painting, flowers on which as if illuminated from the inside. This effect is obtained due to ultra-high transparency of the paint, which lies on the white paper. The sun's rays fall on the picture and are reflected from its surface. Any watercolor sketch requires a sequence of steps, so that the final work is correct:

• The picture is written at an inclination;
• Before you start working with color, you need to perform a composite sketch on paper;
• When the artist began to work with paints, it is worthwhile to carefully monitor the slope of the picture, in order to avoid unwanted streaks and color mixing;
• When writing colors it is very important to preserve the concept of "from the private - to the general". Here it is meant that each flower should be prescribed separately, but at the same time it is represented as a single whole, which is achieved by working with chiaroscuro;
• In bouquets of flowers, regardless of their partial role in the overall picture, it is important not to miss the personal composition center in order to correctly direct the viewer's attention;
• When all the work is written, you need to generalize it, which is sometimes achieved by drawing out individual details, additional strokes.