Category Archives: Still Life Oil Paintings

Breathing Room

Posted on by
Orchids in Red Vase 11×14 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

I’ve long wanted to paint an image in this style – an image soft and atmospheric. But, I always chased the detail. In this instance I had blocked in the background enough to know what the color and depth would be. I had painted the vase enjoying the rich color, form and highlight. An initial simple shape of the fruit had been painted. I could turn my attention to the orchids, which had been loosely “rubbed” out of the initial paint layers. Already I liked this painting – it was loose and without too much detail. I only had to finalize all and paint the flowers – or so I thought. The conversation went something like this with my inner voice speaking – really it did.

“YOU’RE DONE WITH THE FLOWERS” What? I said – I really haven’t started on them. “NO. YOU’RE DONE WITH THE FLOWERS – FINISHED”. I wanted to resist – I hadn’t painted the flowers – maybe just a little more paint to shape the petals and to turn their edges, I thought. Resisting, I picked up the brush and put a bit of shadow color on a few petals, and added a bit of highlight color – I didn’t like it. I wiped off the paint. “I TOLD YOU YOU WERE DONE”, said my inner voice, AND IT DIDN’T LOOK BETTER WHEN ADDED PAINT”….. And so I was done.

I’ve never created such soft irregularly shaped, low contrast flower petals in a painting EVER! Look back at last weeks post – hugely different. As a result, I want to create more softness and atmosphere! In general people love contrast. Ask them which image they like and they will they choose the one with the greatest contrast – contrast to them meaning it’s a better image. There’s a place for contrast for sure, but at this time I’m interested in exploring atmosphere and lower contrast, a quality which has alluded my paintings. I wasn’t confident enough to employ this technique, and didn’t really know how to achieve it, and it occurred in this painting, only because I heard a voice greater and louder than mine. I’m pretty excited.

The 5 days of extreme heat – meaning the temperature reached 88 degrees – is over – at least for a while. Finally, I purchased a big air conditioner, and did so before I even knew there would be a heatwave. It was inevitable that the need would occur at some point. Our nights, however, remained cool this time. All is well in Poulsbo. I hope you’re enjoying your summer. I hope you enjoyed my atmospheric painting. Winifred

Related Images:

WW Haitian Girl Winifred Whitfield Still life WW Red Tree WW Fall Maple WW mom-child WW Portrait S ww-portrait-A

Roses in Green Vase

Posted on by
Pink Roses in Green Vase 12×12 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

Hope you had a fun holiday. It was my first day of air conditioning, but it wasn’t too hot – only 80 degrees. Roses are so complex to paint but I keep trying. In a recent podcast interview of quite an excellent artist, he recalled that in art school, he would view other artist work and think he wished he could paint so well, he wished painting would get easier. He thought that would be the case in the future. Now, 20 years later and a highly acknowledged painter, he proclaims, that though he is more experience with more developed skills, it NEVER gets easier. I hope I don’t bore you with my regular mention of how difficult any given painting was – which is all of them. Sometimes all I can think about is the constant struggle. I should just accept that this is the nature of the journey. and be careful not to go to the point of frustration or a negative mindset. That’s likely why painters remain engaged for so long. They never get to the place of feeling bored, or feel as though they’ve figured it all out. It’s a constant struggle.

The vase is one of my favorite parts of the painting. I changed the original colors but generally maintained the pattern of the vase. It looks lustrous almost like marble. I’m going to rest from roses for a bit to try something different. Have a wonderful week. Winifred

Related Images:

Roses in Small Brass Container

Posted on by
Roses in Small Brass Container – Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

Since last I saw you, I’ve been incredibly busy creating new still life reference images to paint. I have a huge collection of “silk” flowers, many diverse yards of fabric, many vases and other containers and a great and versatile video light with I really love. Having such an assortment of goods, I decided to set up new floral still lifes to photograph. I didn’t plan to began my photo shoot at midnight, but I did, and it continued to 4 a.m. I so enjoyed what I was capturing that my obsessive compulsive tendencies were apparent to me. In addition my creative energy always seems to increase with the lateness of the hour. Over the next few days, I continued to set up new back drops, table-top settings, vases of flowers and light configurations. I photographed so many images, that not even one tenth of the images were preserved. I now have a new selection of still life references to choose from. I seem to prefer ones with dramatic and high contrast lighting. I enjoyed such lighting in the image above along with the warm pretty colors, the texture in the background and foreground cloth, and the shapes the shadow and highlights form. It’s so important to begin a painting with a good reference and one which is exciting to paint. I considered setting up my still life and painting it from life but my studio set up is not right for this at the moment.

Bye for now. Hope you enjoy. Winifred

Related Images:

Peony Buds

Posted on by
Peony Bud Bouquet in Decorative Pitcher – Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

A couple weeks ago a friend gave me a large beautiful bouquet of peonies from her garden. There were pink peonies with a light yellow centers and even larger white ruffly peonies. I began photographing them right away. I knew I would select a reference image from them one day, when I wanted a very complex and difficult image to paint. I continued to photograph the peonies as the petals wilted and the bouquet grew smaller. The pink flowers with yellow centers wilted first, days later, the white ruffly ones lost their petals. Thereafter, only white buds remained until one of the buds, began to unfold as a small flower. The buds and young flower were originally white but I wanted a different look and feel hence painted them pink and lavender colors and added the small decorative pitcher.

The peonies have all faded now – until they come again next spring. I am happy I captured the many stages of their life in photographic files, in addition to these two oil paintings as memories.

The painting below reflects the last of the larger white peonies and some of the remaining buds. (The pink flowers with yellow centers are not represented in these paintings).

Peony Flower with Buds Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

Related Images:

Two Daisies

Posted on by
Two Daisies on Orange Oil Painting on Textured Panel


Years ago I created a highly textured panel. I toned it with a burnt orange color and then dripped a solvent on it – just playing and experimenting. I added some brushstrokes and ultimately ended up with something that looked like two fluffy orange peonies in a vase. I thought it pretty fun. Then one day while daisies were in bloom, I put a couple stems in a modern day champagne glass to paint them. Again, I chose a very textured panel to paint on. I decided the orange on orange painting would make a great background for the daisies. So, here we are with texture on texture. I enjoy the warmth and the light as well as painting daisies. I’m not sure why I haven’t painted tulips yet with so many currently blooming in my garden. I think it’s because I have a hard time cutting flowers in bloom.

As it sometimes turns out, I wasn’t very happy with my “2 Apples and 2 Bricks” painting I posted last week – but it’s not one I’ll continue to work on. I’ll never photograph items that have parallel lines with a camera phone again. One apple, however looked edible!

My power has gone off 3 times during the last 2 days. It’s the wind. This has greatly interrupted my work flow though my phone has kept me entertained. Have a wonderful week. Winifred

Related Images:

2 Apples 2 Bricks and Grapes

Posted on by
2 Apples 2 Bricks and Grapes Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

In an interview last night I heard a portrait artist say “if you want to improve your portrait paintings, paint fruit”. I actually know this to be true. I would also include flowers as well. It is the practice of creating form, seeing shapes and capturing lights and shadows which is being practiced. My recent still lifes – seem to express a theme – apples and grapes. These grapes weren’t in the reference but I felt the bricks needed them and at this point I could paint them from imagination. I wanted them a bit loose, so it was best for me not to have a reference. You know what would happen – the grapes would have been tight and photographic. It is also helpful that I have learned the science of painting grapes. They are translucent and light passes through them.

There was a drape behind the still life but I didn’t care for it so I painted these swirly things paying some attention to the pattern of light but not the shapes. For some reason, it’s the kind of thing my hand likes to do without too much trouble.

This week, I’ll get back to portraits. I’ve continued to work on the girl from Kazakhstan. Still not quite done. You’ve only seen the first two iterations. There will be more. I should start all of my post with “this is the first draft of…”. I have NEVER posted a painting which I did not substantial change in the following days or weeks. There is a reason for this and it is true for all painters. One has to get some time and distance from a painting and see it freshly in order to see really see it. Our eyes get use to seeing what we’re painting and very quickly we no longer view it’s colors, shapes and relationships correctly. It can conceivably become a “finished” painting in a few days, a few weeks, sometimes months until one looks at the work and doesn’t want to change anything. It’s a nice feeling when that happens. I just finished this painting tonight. I wonder what I will want to change on it in a couple days. Have a wonderful week. Winifred

Related Images:

Grapes

Posted on by
Luscious Grapes and Luscious Color 9×12 oil painting by Winifred Whitfield

I so enjoyed painting this still life. Painting grapes is so different from painting eyes and the luscious colors were invigorating. Once done and pleased, I decided to paint a similar image in a different painting style. With the second painting I wouldn’t have to be careful. It is suggested that one not be too “precious” when painting anyhow. It subdues aliveness from ones brush strokes. Below, you can see that I in no way considered the painting precious – just fun.

Grapes Loosely Painted 9×12 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

The second painting was actually more difficult to paint than the first. I enjoy its lively brush strokes but it can be scary. For the first painting, I relied on the reference image for content. In the second painting I had to be more imaginative. I remember the moment I decided to circle the grapes with a vivid blue line and decided to add some random dots all over. I like the colors and the additional texture. I hesitated, but then thought I had nothing to lose – my “precious” painting was finished. I have to overcome fear with each irregular and expressive brushstroke.The underlying thought is constantly “I might mess up”. For sure, that is likely to be the case but it doesn’t matter. The inner dialogue can be exhausting. It slows me down but doesn’t stop me. I am sure you can imagine how difficult and stressful it must be to go through this when painting a portrait. Overall, it was a fun week of adventure in painting.

This coming week, I’ll be back to portraits. Have a great weekend. Winifred

Related Images:

Once Again

Posted on by
Abundance Oil Painting 12×12 by Winifred

Once again we celebrate our respective holidays – gatherings of family, joy, peace – or not! And once again, I’ve reworked this painting! I’ve been at it off and on for 4 years now. Recently, I even sanded down much of the bottom and lower right. I sanded back to the white of the panel. Notice how lustrous those grapes look on the right side. Painting layers of transparent color over a white board gives you the brightest most intense and reflective translucent color. Applying opaque colors is beautiful also – it just depends on the look you want to achieve. I added the bit of cloth and fringe. The bit of white livens the painting over all. I wanted to leave the foliage loose and abstract, though it received a touch up as well.

Italian Woman in Window Oil Painting 11×14 by Winifred Whitfield

I can still remember the moment I photographed the lady in the window. She saw me looking at her. I motioned to the camera and looked back up at her – my way of asking permission. I remember that moment of connection with her. She nodded yes, gave me a warm smile – even waved. I wanted “the wave” in the painting but her arm and hand were positioned so awkwardly – I couldn’t make it work.

Below: This is a first time I painted a barn, trees, a field of grass. It was fun. I enjoyed it so much in fact, I painted it twice!

Barn and Farm 11×14 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

I didn’t like the trees I painted initially so I sanded down that part of my painting. I used an electric sanding machine rather than a sanding block – I was aggressive. I was pleasantly surprised when my trees were were immediately simplified and had a level of abstraction. Artist frequently say that removing paint is as important as putting it on. This is an example and I need to employ this as a technique more often rather than as a last resort. In 2022, my only resolution will be to sand off more paint.

I wishing you the best during this holiday season. Winifred

Related Images:

The Kitten and the Baby Bird

Posted on by
Kitten and Baby Bird Oil Painting 16×20 by Winifred Whitfield

I’ve had this kitten doorstop for so many years. I thought perhaps it might be used in a still life but I couldn’t imagine how. I haven’t had the little bird as long. It was purchased specifically to be used in a still life but it actually spent most of it’s years, hidden accidentally in a corner under one of my studio tables. Now they are both stars. It’s a painting that makes me smile. I love the expression of the kitten and the sense of connection with the adoring little bird. Anyway, that’s the way it feels to me. And yes there is platter of fruit. They’ll have no problem nibbling. Again, my drop cloth plays an important roll in the design and framing of the painting. This painting is a bit unusual. I’m OK with that. What do you think. Winifred

Related Images:

The Wonder of Apples

Posted on by
Big Juicy Apples Oil Painting 16×12 by Winifred Whitfield

Did you know that planting seeds of any apple will never give you the same apple. It’s like children – each child born will be different in some way – from what I’ve seen – even twins. If you plant sunflower seeds and most other seeds and you’ll get the same plant. To get the same apple, you have to clone the plant – graft the branch of the fruit you want onto the root stock of another tree. When sufficiently mature, it will bear identical fruit type as that from the tree the branch came from. What has this got to do with my painting – absolutely nothing, but interesting and this was discussed in a recent video on Cezanne I saw on YouTube.

Cezanne created so many paintings of apples – a couple hundred or more. Sometimes he included a few other fruit, but mostly he painted apples. They were foundational to his still lifes. He decided to make his mark with “apples”. Still lifes, at that time the lowest oil painting genre of them all. But he cared not. He wanted to astonish Paris with apples – and so he did. Proving again that boldness has genius! It was not just the apple subject matter that won him such acclaim however, it was his design, perspective, brushstrokes and color. Most painters were using smooth blended paint strokes at the time. As you see below, he was often painting with thick paint. I love this thick juicy paint. Many will think it looks messy. I find it amazing!

Sugar Bowl, Pears, and Blue Cup by Paul Cezanne, circa 1866.

I’ve always also taken note of the bold deeply folded white cloth/s Cezanne frequently uses in his still lifes, which I mentioned is the reason my new drop cloth is so exciting to me. I’ve used it again in this painting as well as the next I’m working on presently. I’ll enjoy painting apples and other fruit for a while before … who knows? Have a wonderful day! Winifred

Related Images: