Still Life Stuff

[JeffX99]

I was inspired by fellow artist sone one's thread of his daily oil paintings to finally get off my arse and start painting some of the crap I've collected over the years for that very purpose. Plus I'm always talking about doing simple still lifes to develop skills so figured I better post some. A bit behind on the 'painting a day' goal, but it's a start! Thanks for stopping by!

[Cory Hinman]

Inspiring work, Jeff. these showed me I don't have to heap flowers, fruit, bones and scarves and whatever else into one complex group to achive an effective, dramatic composition. Quite the contrary.
I also like the subtlety of the objects' reflections and the textures of the negative spaces. My favorite are the first monochrome skull and the group of three skulls. Makes me want to trot out my old deer skull and finally grapple with the damn ellipse describing the realtionship of the antlers.
Looking forward to more.

[dpaint]

Great stuff, strong and clean compositions. Good sense of believable light.

[OmenSpirits]

what, no dragons?

Bah!

I like the purity of color in the bird skull!

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Nice still lifes, man!

[JeffX99]

Hey thanks for the comments everyone - I'll work on some dragons OS! Well....robots first probably...

[jacobanderson]

I think there could be some more lens flare...kidding. These are great. Did you find these skulls, or buy them? I had a deer skull once, until my dog ate it, necrotic brains and all.

[OldOmen]

Lovely, more please.

[JeffX99]

Thanks! I'm workin on it...

Jake - I find most of them...the "skull project" is to paint every skull in the collection currently...I have no idea how many there are. The first two are an Elk skull I found in Wyoming...I have no idea why I have so many Beaver skulls...I found another hiding on a shelf after painting those three!

[JeffX99]

Haven't had much painting time lately...but here's something old...something new...

"Everyone Needs a Little Vice"

[Deadlyhazard]

I really like the textural quality of your last painting, Nice work man.

[JeffX99]

Thanks Deadly!

Not much but here's a new skull...a racoon.

[JeffX99]

Fox in a box...my first attempt at "Trompe L'oeil". It was fun...will be doing more...

Updated...after one final pass (I think it's final anyway)...plus I scanned this one so it's a bit more accurate.

[Random_Hobo]

Great work,love the last 3 posted.

[Black Spot]

Love that last one. Finding skulls in London isn't that easy but I'm going to keep my eyes peeled a bit more.

[JeffX99]

Thanks Random and Black Spot! Actually had another pass at it so new image...probably needs one more pass...thanks for the feedback!

[Larriva Art]

Nice Trompe L'oeil. I like the shadow of the skull because it helps describe the shape of the underside we can't see.

[dpaint]

love the fox in a box. Great work

[rattus]

inspirational work, thank you!

[JeffX99]

Thanks all! Wish I had something new to post...I will soon!

[MatthewHD]

Really enjoying your stuff here. I'm looking forward to the update.

[Cory Hinman]

Love the textures of the vice! The fox in the box is great compositionally, but I feel the skull needs more development. Or...I don't know, that great cast shadow resolves any ambiguity with a nice touch of drama. Anyway, that one got me thinking, so thanks much!

By the by, what size are you working at, and could the vice be re-scanned so as to allow loving perusal of the textures?

[Faust Arp]

That's a really neat idea to paint a series of skulls, that would make an interesting gallery display. And the textures on the vice are wonderful.

Thank you for the inspiration.

[Deadlyhazard]

Post moar Jeff!

NOW.

[JeffX99]

Thanks everyone.
The vice is 12x16 Cory - too big for scanning. But I could put half of it on there I s'pose.

Here's a new piece - not terribly happy with it but I tried to take some process shots and make it an animated .gif. The subject is the newest skull in the collection and is pretty special. My Grandad picked that up out on the Channel Islands many years ago, my uncle had it in his small studio and he recently passed away, so it came down to me.
It is a pretty rare species of goat now, estimated at only about 200 left.

Anyway, here's the setup and the "process"...(I hope the .gif works...never made one before)...

Huh - well, it didn't work....worked when I tested it. Oh well...I'll post the pics separately I guess. Tomorrow...

Studio setup


Applying tone (thin Burnt Sienna)


Evened out tone > Measuring and wiping out


Drawing > More drawing and wiping out


Shadows and Darks > Background and Details


Almost > Final adjustments...tweaking

[krysjez]

I really love the texture on the vise and the wooden box. Thanks for posting up your process as well!

When you say "wiping out" do you mean putting turps on a cloth and wiping off the paint or have I completely misinterpreted things?

[JeffX99]

Thanks krysjez! Yes, that is exactly the technique - although I usually do most of it with a clean brush dipped in turp, draw or "thin out" the section I want to wipe out. This is also a great way to work with charcoal - tone the entire page and use your kneaded eraser to pull out the lights - then push in the darks.

[Ven S]

Jeff you have such amazing still lifes. Really inspirational stuff.

[JeffX99]

Thanks Ven! I enjoy still life because they can be a good cross between conceptual ideas, design and good painting practice.

Here's a different shot of that fox skull in the box - it took on a little more realism under natural light. Working on another that I'll post in a few...when it gets to finish.

[drobyazko]

The skull paintings are amazing! How long did the fox in the box and goat one take to make?