Thursday, October 30, 2008

Of Art and Aneurysms

Well hello there, dear reader.


Grapes and Pears ACEO WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne


So my artistic saga continues and I'll be honest in saying that when I started this whole van Gogh/ Vermeer project I didn't really have a highly specific outcome in mind. I just knew that I admired the work of both and that I hoped when all was said and done that I'd be a better artist for it. When I started I also had no idea that at this point I'd be having a hissy fit over trying to get the best lighting to take a picture of a rose and little glass bluebird.

"Symbols of the Season"
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne


I love doing still lifes now (something else that has come as a big surprise) but trying to set up my own compositions is causing that little vein on the temple of my head to pop out and I'm getting kind of snarly over the whole affair. My biggest qualms are coming from lighting issues and that my camera is "out of date" despite being only 3 years old.

I've searched high and low on the Internet for tips, tricks and any other general information I feel will be useful. I've managed to rig up a box that I use for setting up my still lifes and it allows me to change background fabrics, fiddle around with the depth of objects as well as the height of objects. However, the lighting is *ahem* lacking something to be desired... as in: it's crap.
So I ask, dear reader, do you have any tips on lighting for still lifes? Is there a better time of day to be taking ref pics? Is an overcast day better than a sunny day? Anything, anything at all... I'll try it. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

So there's my plea for help. I'm going to go work on some more art now, maybe a horse or wildlife piece because they're not causing my blood pressure to rise exponentially.


Also, be sure to have a Happy Halloween tomorrow filled with all kinds of sugary, spooky goodness. I'll see you in November! :D

2 comments:

Regina said...

If you are relying on day light, an artist I've taken lessons from loves the angle & quality of light from later afternoon.

Rita said...

Thanks for the idea/ tip Regina!

I am relying primarily on natural light since I don't have a proper lamp, such as an Ott light . Christmas is coming though so maybe Santa will be kind enough to bring me a lamp. ;)