Still Lives?

24″x 24″ “Toy Box” Acrylic on Canvas by Claudia

Last post, Betsy’s work illuminated the benefits of painting still life to isolate a challenging skill, by practicing with still life objects.  Betsy’s work is exceptional, but her intent was simple.

Today, Claudia’s piece takes still life out of the realm of fruit and bottles and brings a conceptual intention to still life painting.  In other words, this painting is about conveying more than the fruits of technical achievement.

What do you think the artist had in mind?

Still Life, Dynamic Work

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “less is more”.  Kate’s still life study of a pumpkin is a great illustration of that expression.  The color is limited, the shapes are simple, and the composition straight forward, but it is fully packed with pumpkiny energy!

Here’s a challenge for you:

Imagine this pumpkin, in this composition, without a stem, or with a stem that isn’t diagonal and is blunt at the top.  How would that simple change effect the way we see this work?