The Artist - UK (2021-04)

(Antfer) #1
20 artistApril 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

OILS


W


hile I enjoy painting
other subjects, 2020 was
a particularly good one
for still lifes. They have
provided months of entertainment.
Crude as it may be, I find reflections
on silver and ceramics particularly
enjoyable to paint. Silver is less a
colour than a reflection of all the colours
in the room and thus changes every
time, and it has a wonderful way of
bringing together the different objects
in the still life, as they’re reflected in its
surfaces. Ceramics often have surprising

Put a shine into


your still life


Lotta Camilla Teale shares her tips as she delights


in painting still lifes that include shiny objects, such


as silver or iridescent ceramics


iridescent colours, which photographs
can fail altogether to capture but come
out deliciously when painted – see
Mustard Pot with Tangerines and Knife,
(below).

Composition
I like to include something alive in
each painting to keep it fresh – a
vegetable or eggs for example – but
then the rest can be my usual props in
various permutations. I tend to avoid
complicated shiny objects such as silver
with lots of facets, or cut glass, both of

which can look beautiful in life but can
be really hard to paint and are often
disappointing: one simple highlight can
often achieve more than a multitude.
I will often spend two or three hours
setting up a still life, arranging and
rearranging, and often completely
giving up on the props and starting from
scratch. If the composition isn’t right at
the outset the painting will never work,
however good the technique – I have
wasted many a day only to find the
composition was wrong. I photograph
compositions as I go along to work out

Lotta Camilla Teale
has exhibited at the New English Arts
Club, Royal Institute of Oil Painters,
Society of Women Artists, Royal Society
of Marine Artists, Royal West of England
Academy and the Russell Gallery. She
won both the Royal Talens Award and The
Artist exhibition award in the 2020 The
Artist Open Competition. For details of
exhibitions planned for 2021, please visit
http://www.lottateale.com

p Three Malian Spoons, oil on canvas board, 8 3 8in
(20 3 20cm)

t Mustard Pot with Tangerines and Knife, oil on canvas
board, 12 3 12in (30.5 3 30.5cm).

TA04p20_23_Lotta.indd 20TA04p20_23_Lotta.indd 20 02/02/2021 13:5402/02/2021 13:

Free download pdf