Paint a photorealist still life
Be inspired to paint a contemporary photorealist still life in oils. Kate Brinkworth urges you to be brave and choose new colours appropriate for your theme
Be inspired to paint a contemporary photorealist still life in oils. Kate Brinkworth urges you to be brave and choose new colours appropriate for your theme
It is always a little daunting when beginning a new piece of work. The size, format, materials and colour palette are crucial elements that enable ideas to be fully expressed. I try to begin with what sensation I would like to convey – sometimes this is a subconscious response.
The large paintings I have made in recent years are inspired by film. I began by working directly from stills but I soon sought to create my own and now my work is focused around two themes: still lifes using iconic objects and scenes, mostly using objects that tell a particular story. Through the backbone of these runs a sheer love of colour, exploring varying palettes and just a plain love of painting.
Choose your medium
It is natural to go straight to the medium you are most comfortable with and find most rewarding. But it's important to ask yourself if it is the most suitable one to create the mood, emotion or idea that you would most like to invoke in the mind of the viewer. All media have their unique qualities, from the delicate subtleties of graphite and pencil or the brooding moodiness of charcoal to the vivid, more graphic techniques that acrylics can achieve. Oil paint is a natural choice. The quality of the pigments enable brilliant colour, particularly when extra oil is added to enhance the depth of colour and gloss. It is a wonderfully versatile medium that can do almost anything that you ask of it.
A simple way of deciding which medium to use is to think about the subject matter – is it textured, sensual, rough or perhaps even angry? Don't be afraid to alter your tools and use a variety of brushes or palette knives. For example, on finding a particular fabric tricky to paint, I impressed the weave into the paint, thus recreating the textures of the cloth without it looking fussy.
Adapt your mark making and palette to fit what you want to portray. If this involves a real change, a good way to make it less daunting is to allow yourself some free play time. Create colour wheels and swatches, mess-around sheets and studies, which removes the pressure. Remember that there are no rules – there is advice for best practice and to avoid technical problems, but no rules.
My technique
My technique with oil paint uses the basic principles of watercolour painting and goes against most oil techniques. It came about through exploration and trying to create the sleek glossy shine of film and photography, but also in thinking that as I was painting transparent, shiny objects I wanted the paint to have the same quality.
My palette revolves around transparency – I found that I was naturally using certain colours and
dismissing others that did not mix so easily. After talking to Winsor & Newton I came to realise the huge differences a pigment can make to the qualities of a colour – its transparency or opacity, its drying time, the density or thinness of its tone. These are things that can be exploited to make a painting more successful.
The colours I was choosing were all transparent, they blend better and are excellent for glazing (think of overlaying sheets of coloured acetates or glass; the opaque colours are best at blocking out and creating strong areas of colour). Using a mix of both can really add depth of field to a piece of work. I approach colours in my work literally, in accordance with their inherent properties: transparent paint for anything shiny or see-through and opaque for any areas that are more solid, such as the spots on dice or paper.
I work on birch ply or canvas primed with six or seven layers of gesso, sanded between layers to a papersmooth finish. As with watercolour, I achieve degrees of intensity by thinning the paint with safflower oil and allowing the white of the surface to show through. I add very little white paint as it changes the nature and renders it opaque, so I use it in areas that are solid or are real highlights. Consequently all the light being reflected back to you actually becomes white. These I tint ever so slightly – yellow to bring it to the eye and blue for it to sit midfield.
I work in just one layer, applying the
paint and working it until I achieve what I want before it dries. I tend to start on the most blurred areas; the paint is loosely applied and the strokes softened and blended with a soft goathair hake. I then work towards the most in-focus areas, it helps to avoid any harsh lines as the paint dries.
Drawing
I begin by setting up the still life in a darkened studio and use a spotlight to get dramatic light. I take photos from different angles, focal lengths, shadows and use other objects placed to the sides to increase colour reflection in duller areas or to create balance (Blu
Tack is invaluable for keeping objects in place). I set these up quite directly so that the objects loom large and dominate the space, becoming almost imposing. One trick is to have three points of the same colour in a triangle, which creates balance. Also, I add a small object out of focus towards a corner to 'nail' the image and stop the eye drifting out of the frame. I rarely get the lighting right in a single frame so I tend to work from three or four different photos.
As there is little room for mistakes while working in a single layer, I do most of my thinking and working out in initial drawings made from the best of my photographs. I use the best bits from each photo, deciding which lines are the most important, how colours play against each other, and observe which reflections run through multiple objects. This is a crucial part, I really get to know and explore what I want to include, mentally running through the colours I am going to use in the painting.
The drawing is then transferred to the board and slightly rubbed out so only a faint outline is visible – enough just to give me direction – as graphite is a strong pigment so any dark lines will muddy. Then I am ready to paint.
Colour choices
Colour plays a strong role in the objects that I choose and I buy new colours to match different subject matter. I'm never afraid to change and use new shades when tackling a new theme.
When creating paintings that are more narrative based I use a black-and-white palette. It nods to the era of film that influenced them but also gets around the problem I have with objects whose colours clash or don't work. I love this restriction of palette and how it enables me to go hunting for all the shades and tones I need to evoke sunlight, the varying depths of shadow, half-light and full sun. I use Winsor & Newton charcoal grey – this has charcoal as its pigment base so retains its beautiful depth and soft glow and, despite being a grey, it has a dense black at its darkest. I either thin this down or add three different whites: transparent white, which turns it a little blueish and is useful for deep and pale shadow; titanium white, which when added liberally makes a warm tone and sunny highlights; and zinc white as a halfway house between the two. Thinning it down with safflower oil creates warm shades, thus, using four shades you can create a full colour wheel of tone, hue and light.
Choosing a whole new palette can be very invigorating and really challenges your understanding of how light works. Metallics are also a wonderful way of
mixing things up a little. Make a colour wheel then add a little gold to each shade and see how it changes each one like nothing else – adding shimmer, warmth and delicacy.
No matter what stage, age or skill level an artist is at, new ideas and blocks are a challenge and the hardest part is to find your way through these. Tactics I use to find a way through are watching films, looking at other artists' work and listening to audiobooks. Submerge yourself in looking and listening, and feel free to play around and enjoy your materials. Nothing you do will be wasted knowledge, it all adds as a vocabulary to be called upon and knowing what you don't like is as valuable as knowing what you do.
Stars & Stripes is a triptych and was commissioned for the Coca-Cola headquarters in Washington. It is based around the US flag
Kate Brinkworth studied fine art at Nottingham Trent University. She has exhibited in the UK and overseas and her work is in private collections. Kate works with Winsor & Newton and gives workshops and lectures at universities. She is currently working on commissions, including for Coca-Cola. http://katebrinkworth.com