Thursday, December 27, 2012

Arthur Streeton






























Foxgloves in a vase, 1934, 60 x 50 cm
Roses, 58.5 x 48.5 cm
Roses, c. 1931, 60.5 x 50.5 cm
Sunflowers, 1926

Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (1867-1943) was an Australian painter best known for his landscapes. He was influenced by the French Impressionists and Turner.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Old Dutch Master Flower Pieces





Unknown

Elias van den Broek

Gaspar Peeter Verbruggen the Younger

Georgius van Os

Hans Bollongier

(Some of these artists may be Flemish not Dutch)

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Peaches

Wall painting, Herculaneum
Alexandre-Francois Desportes
Henri-Fantin Latour
Henri Fantin Latour
Fede Galiza
Joseph Decker
Claude Monet
Panfilo Nuvolone
Panfilo Nuvolone
William Mason Brown








Thursday, October 18, 2012

Tea Time



William Nicholson, Silver Teapots

Jean-Etienne Liotard

Grace Mehan DeVito

Henri Fantin-Latour

Faith Te 

Friday, October 5, 2012

Custard Apple

Agostinho José da Mota (1824-1878), Frutas do Conde.
Henri Rousseau, Still Life with Exotic Fruits.
Botanical Illustration, V&A Museum

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Camellias







Botanical illustration

Antoine Chazal

Jonathan Koch, White Camellia and Green Vase

Otto Ottesen

Violet McInnes, (Australian)

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Persimmons

Charlotte Thodey
J.A.Botke

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Grapes


Nicolas de Largilliere (1556-1646), Two Bunches of Grapes.
Gerard van Spaendock (1746-1822), Black grapes on a Marble Ledge.
Robert Hannaford, Australian, contemporary.

The translucency and reflectivity, the variety of colour and tone, in a bunch of grapes is challenging but provides a lot of visual interest.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Edges: Marc-Laurent Bruyas


When the human eye looks at a scene, things at the focal point appear crisp and well-defined while things in the periphery are fuzzier and less distinct. 
One of the important differences between painting and photography is that the painter can simulate the appearance of things as seen by the eye. The painter can decide what they want the viewer to pay attention to, and they can manipulate edges and contrasts in order to guide the viewer's eye around the painting.
A painting with all hard edges, or all soft edges, is visually less interesting than a painting with a variety of edges. 
In the upper painting in particular, Bruyas has left the periphery of the composition fuzzier or blurrier than the blooms in the centre.
"lost edges" are parts of the painting where the edge between two objects disappears because the tonal values and colours of the adjacent areas become very close. The objects open out into each other, forming a larger shape, and this adds visual interest to the composition.
In the lower painting the pink roses have a lost edge between them, while a dark leaf provides greater separation between the two white roses. There are also lost edges where the dark leaves are close in value to the shadows on the ground underneath.
A still life painter will often push tonal values up or down in order to create lost edges. This is not dishonest; it is merely simulating what the eye does. 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Fabrice de Villeneuve





In Asian art, words have long been combined with images as an integral part of painting composition.
The Cubists introduced text, usually in the form of newsprint, into their still life works, giving them a look suggestive of graphic design .

Don't be afraid to use blacks and browns in a still life painting, but make them interesting. An all neutral painting will need a feature note of red or some other warm colour somewhere to give it life.
This was often provided by the vermillion stamp in Chinese paintings.

Juan Gris, Still Life in Front of the Window.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Frans Oerder


Frans David Oerder (Dutch, 1867-1944), A Still Life with Pink Flowers, 120 x 120 cm.


Oerder seems to have favoured subjects with masses of small florets, as they lend themselves to an impressionistic approach.
He was Dutch but also lived in South Africa.




Thursday, July 19, 2012