Mason - Composition

2) We are talking about NARRATIVE and COMPOSITION: Go through these links and think about your STILL LIFE PAINTING. What are you hoping to impart to your viewer, and how to you plan on achieving this?

I am hoping to put together an interesting collection of objects in an appealing manner, in such a way that provokes viewer thought into creating their own back story for the image. I would like to play with unusual composition and perhaps stylization.

3) Find three examples of well-done still lives. POST YOUR FAVORITE (with an artist statement if available) and answer the following questions:

1) What is the medium? Surface? Technique used?

I am not entirely sure but I would guess that the 1st and 3rd paintings might be done with oils, while the 2nd painting possibly is done with acrylics.

2) What are the OBJECTS or SPACE being portrayed and what is the condition of said objects/ space? What does this say about the socio-economic, age, education, religion, etc of the artist? Does the viewer need to know these things to be able to read the piece?

3) What is being portrayed? What is the narrative?

4) What are three compositional techniques used to help tell this storyline? Where is the focal point? Is there grounding? Foreground, background?

5) Who is the intended audience? Is this readable to a larger audience? Should the artist consider audience?

In the first painting, we see what looks like a typical modern-day sink, with typical toiletries (toothbrush, razor, toothpaste, pills, etc). This tells me that this painting was likely completed fairly recently, perhaps within the last 10-20 years. The pills are scattered about, yet the other things are arranged neatly, so either the artist doesn't care too much about perfect tidiness, or leaves the pills out for convenience. I would also hazard a guess that the artist might be in their 30's or 40's, as teenagers and 20-something year olds rarely need daily medication (again, another guess that they are daily pills as the artist doesn't want to bother putting the lid back on the bottle). The painting of the vegetables looks very constructed, as if the artist purposely arranged the vegetables in such a manner to make them look interesting. It is interesting to see just how precariously the mushrooms are balancing on the peppers - it tells me the artist might enjoy a little bit of chaos, as the way the vegetables are arranged, they are in much more danger of falling off the pile or the table than in danger of looking boring. The last painting I thought was great as it is your typical still life with some glassware and flowers, and suddenly there is a skull amidst the pearls and lace. It really makes me wonder if the artist had this set up already in their home (it does look like a great table decoration and conversation starter), or if they only put it together for the purpose of the painting. Despite the skull, the arrangement makes it in such harmony that I wouldn't be surprised if the artist decided to leave it like that just for decoration to spruce up their home! The delicateness and color theme make me think of a feminine theme, and looks romantic despite skulls typically being associated with death.