Smoke, Whiskey, and Tea - My First Complete Still Life

[rishenko]

Below is my first finished still life. There are an assortment of problems, but I'm going to call this one complete. It took around three and a half hours - one hour trying to create accurate shapes, one and a half for shading, half an hour for adding flowers and other details and some final touch ups. I learned a ton:
-about needing to keep the shadows in certain ranges
-keep the details in the light, but the shadows less so
-focus on details on where you want the viewer's attention and let the other details fade away
-about watch for highlights
-separating the shadows into ranged segments
-blocking in shapes
-that I need to study basic shapes and how light plays on them a helluva lot more

Problems I've noticed:
-I'm still having some issues with perspective, and noticed that the base of the objects don't quite fit with the box.
-I also found that trying to create a dark shade with 2B was harder than expected, especially when trying to keep it uniform. I tried to use a blending stump on the lower right of the cigar box, but that turned into an epic fail.
-The paper hanging off the right of the whiskey bottle also failed to come out right, so that's something to look at studying in the future.
-The shadows are not well formed. They were subtle in the light, but I didn't capture the slight curves well enough.
-Creating the proper reflection of the 'glowing' whiskey off the cigar box and wall as highlights didn't turn out so well.

Any comments, suggestions for the future, and criticisms are more than welcome and appreciated.

[Zporpnitteg]

I think it looks good! But I think you should put some more depth (darker shades) in the shadows, so it looks more 3d:ish, If you know what I mean!

[arenhaus]

Do a dozen more.

Arrange objects so they overlap, and so that they have an interesting pattern of light and shadow.

If 2B pencil is not dark enough for you, use a softer pencil. Or use a black colored pencil - the added benefit is that you won't be able to rely on eraser and will have to think more before making a mark.

[rishenko]

Zporpnitteg: Thank you! That's a very good point, and one I should work on. I should take time to create one of the value scales so I can reference that while working out the shadows on future still life and images in general.

arenhaus: Those are excellent ideas. GaussianRaider suggested I setup a few still lifes with the very simple forms. I picked up styrofoam shapes including a rectangle, sphere, and cone last night from Michael's and plan on arranging and drawing them to develop a better feel for shadows, especially with overlap. I also plan on doing more still lifes.

[JeffX99]

Great start for a first still life. I agree with arenhaus - just do more! Also really set up a good, single light source on your setup to establish stronger values and interesting shadows...then push for a stronger value statement. It's a bit washed out right now. Good job - keep them coming!

[rishenko]

Thanks Jeff! Yeah, I was using the dining room's central light. It's not very strong, and I'll now be looking for either a floor or desk lamp for the next still life. What is really odd (though it does make sense) is that the shadows and such look darker in the room's light versus in natural lighting or the scanner. Also, and I'm guessing this is due to the lack of strength in the light, only the occlusion shadow at the bottom of the pot and cup really hit 'super dark'. Still, those are no excuses for not pushing the shadows further for dimension.

Thanks again for the suggestion and ideas.