For this exercise, like the description recommended, I wanted to keep the first still life exercise rather simple just to get into the swing of things, as for a week or so I had creative block which I finally snapped out of with just easing back into the course as I have never personally chosen still life as a subject, having always preferred the head and body. With this in mind I had a quick look around the house and chose two books, a jug and a make up bag.
After picking the objects, I made quick composition sketches to see how they looked, and which positions worked best, and also to see how different positions would effect the look of the compositions. I initially worked in pencil, but later added watercolour, and after having done this chosen one composition I went straight in with watercolour loaded on the brush and drew the composition. When looking at the composition, I thought it rather typical and tried taking a book away, and then made two tonal studies in watercolour, one with two books, one with just one. Having completed the studies, I chose the composition with just three objects, as I preferred the whole appearance of the arrangement and went onto sketching it out with watercolour onto an a3 cotton canvas, as even when dry water can be added and thin layers of watercolour can be removed.
After the initial sketch had been made, I then went in with acrylic and watercolour to create the piece, adding a simple corner background, to ease into the still life project, as I said before that I have never really had experience with it. As my first piece in this project, I am pleased with how the whole piece turned out, and gave me a confidence boost for the rest of the project. The colours I used were basic, but worked well together and I believe the composition was better with the jug resting on top of the make up bag rather than just on the table, and I think that the positioning of these objects and their shadows gave depth and structure to the painting.
SOPHIE FAWCETT'S OCA LEARNING LOG 