Describing a still life as dynamic might seem like a contradiction in terms, until we look at some of the incredibly lively works of artists like William Merritt Chase, the young Georgia O’Keeffe, Giorgio Morandi, Paul Cezanne or the many modernist artists that revisited this genre using restless brushwork, novel chromatic harmonies, unusual subjects and compositions.

In this 6-session, online oil painting course dedicated to still life, we will be copying artworks by these modern Masters, study their style and appreciate their creative process. It will be also a good occasion to explore this pivotal period from an Art History point of view.

Materials:

• A few canvases or canvas board, about 12 by 16 or so
• Paint: you can use the colors that you have already, but this is a basic palette that can be useful:

cadmium red medium, alizarine crimson, cadmium yellow medium and cadmium yellow             lemon, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, burnt sienna, raw sienna, black, white (titanium and zinc  or titanium and lead white), you can also get viridian and sap green if you already have them.

• Medium: you can use the medium you prefer, but if you have to buy it I would get linseed oil (refined linseed oil will do), you can also use Liquin by Winsor & Newton or Galkid by Gamblin.
• Solvents: the lox toxicity-low odor such as Gamsol by Gamblin.
• Brushes: #4, #8 and #10 Filbert synthetic brushes will do most of the work, I like Utrecht Tuscan series, and a couple of synthetic, round brushes Utrecht Tuscan size 2 or Princeton Umbria in size 6. You can also get a couple of Filbert, hog bristle brushes in size 8 or so, hog bristle brushes are better suited to “push” the paint in the initial stages.

A metal cup for the medium, a large metal cup, such as a coffee can with a lid for the solvent, a palette knife, rags, a mixing palette or disposable paper palette. Finally, a protective hand cream like Art Guard by Winsor & Newton to protect your hands from paint and solvents.