The Artist - UK (2020-05)

56 artistMay 2020 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

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TA

many still-life painters who can inspire
your work and visiting exhibitions can
give you new ideas for your paintings.

Being inspired

Although I usually assume that it’ll be
very warm from March onwards, we all
know that this isn’t the case, especially
with our unreliable weather. The variety
of subject matter for a still-life painting
is endless and setting up a still life is
a great way to work, as hopefully you
can be in a quiet space away from
the outside world – one of the many
advantages of being able to work
indoors.
I have collected so many interesting
jugs, vases and pots over the years.
They all appear in my paintings
in various formats and colours.
My favourite way to work is to be
inventive and change the colours and
composition. The vases, jugs, flowers,

STILL LIFE 4

This is a more complex palette where

I have decided to use brighter colours.

I have also used a combination of

mixed colours and a few areas of pure

colour from the palette. Here some of

the colours have been allowed to mix

on the paper – notice how the yellow

flowers merge into the green stems,

and the green of the stems merge into

the red flowers. The cast shadows on

the tablecloth link up with the grey on

the left-hand wall and the blue of the

right-hand wall and the cast shadows

link up with the blues in the dark blue

vase and the flowers. By making careful

preparations – of mixing, testing and

colour notes – you can plan the colour

composition before you begin painting.

leaves, shells, fruit, fabric and all the

other objects I collect are all just the

‘characters’ in the painting. I don’t paint

them exactly as they are but use them

to inspire a picture. This is something I

repeat time and time again when I am

teaching a painting class.

Look in charity shops for objects to

include in your still-life paintings, and

florists for spring flowers and plants.

Other sources of inspiration could be

gardens and walks in nature.

Drawing

Drawing a still life is time well spent.

Although this article is about colour for

still-life painting, drawing is the starting

point. Even if you decide to paint

freehand, with no drawing, doing some

exploratory drawing in your sketchbook

before you begin will help you get

to know your still-life subject. The

drawing helps you to look carefully and

Julie Collins

studied painting at the University of

Reading. She is an associate member of

the Society of Women Artists and won 1st

prize for watercolour at the Royal West of

England Academy of Art exhibition in 2019.

Her work is exhibited widely in the UK and

her sixth book, Colour Demystified will be

published in November 2020.

http://www.juliecollins.co.uk

Colours used

Mixes

Indigo French

ultramarine blue

Permanent

rose

Scarlet

lake

Aureolin Burnt

sienna

Indigo

dark

French ultramarine blue

dark medium pale

Permanent rose

medium/

pale

+ scarlet

lake

medium

Scarlet lake

medium pale

Aureolin

medium

Aureolin

pale

Aureolin

+ French

ultramarine

blue

pale

French

ultramarine

blue + burnt

sienna

medium –

more blue

Burnt sienna

+ French

ultramarine

blue

medium/pale –

more brown

make important decisions about your

composition and, more importantly,

drawing is like a warm-up to get you

into the right frame of mind for painting.