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Still Life in the Interior
w/Peter Van Dyck
Friday April 26, Saturday April 27, Sunday April 28
Still-life in the Interior (or Still-life in Context)
This workshop will focus on the problem of combining the genres of still-life and interior painting into a single picture. We will start by addressing the problem of finding a subject and the practical and formal problems of setting up a still life. We will discuss how to organize and simplify complex information, how to have a unified sense of light throughout the picture and how to perceive color and tone relationships. We will also cover aspects of drawing that will help in the creation of a convincing sense of space. Students are welcome to bring their own objects or work with objects on hand at the center.
MATERIALS: please email me at petervandyckart@gmail.com with any questions.
Paints:
There is no need for you to purchase any new colors or if you don’t want to. All of the ideas will work within the framework and limitations of any given set of colors. That being said, if you want a baseline set to work with, I recommend the following:
-White
-Yellow, prismatic (cadmium yellow (or hue) permanent yellow)
-Red, prismatic (same as above)
-Ultramarine Blue
-Alizarin Crimson
You can use, oil paint, acrylic paint, gouache or pastel. Everything important that we will be talking about will apply across any of these media. However, I have the most experience working with oil, some experience with acrylic, very little experience with gouache and no experience with pastel so take that into account when choosing your medium.
Painting surfaces:
Painting surface for oil painting: I like a very dry surface like paper or a canvas or board primed with a chalk based gesso, not acrylic gesso. I find it VERY difficult to paint on acrylic primed panels or boards as the paint slips and slides all over the surface. An easy, and relatively cheap alternative to acrylic primed panels is Arches Oil Paper. This is paper that you can paint directly on without any priming or treatment. You can also prime a normal piece of heavier paper or mat-board with a light coat of shellac or PVA size.
Painting surface for acrylic painting: Since acrylic paint dries so fast, you don’t have to fight against the paint slipping all over the canvas, therefore, almost any surface will do for our purposes if you’re working in acrylic.