Need help with still life composition

[cherilyn]

Hello. I created this still life composition by 'pasting' pictures together in Photoshop. It is to become a gift(drawing) for a friend's dining room. The light purple around the frame is the color of their wall and I was going to carve a grapevine theme into the frame. I guess my question is, should I make changes to the composition? Are the shadows and reflections correctly rendered? Or, is it not recommended to create a still life reference in this manner? Is there anything I could add to it to make it more interesting or attractive?

( I was hoping to achieve a 'trompe-l'oeil' effect. I was going to use the same purple as their wall in the picture to make it look like it's a little recessed area with a frame around the outside. Do you think it achieves this 'feeling'?)

Thanks for your help!

[cherilyn]

One more question...

Do you like this frame better? (with some color washed onto the frame) Or, does it seem to take away from the still life and make the frame too 'busy'?

[Carol Lois]

You have a good composition here, with the eye directed around in a circle from one object to another. Yes the color wash on the frame adds something I think.
My only concern is that you have used so much neutral color and cool purple that the effect is a little cold.
Obviously you have put a lot of thought into your gift and made it very personal--that should mean a lot.
Carol Lois

[cherilyn]

Carol,

Thank you for responding! I see what you mean about the colors being so cold. Do you have any ideas on how I could warm it up? Maybe I should use different flowers? Or, should I abandon the idea of using the purple wall color in the drawing?

Another thought... I was planning to replace the generic pictures (on the wall hanging) with pictures of my friends. If I chose 'warmer' pictures to put in those frames, would that help to counteract some of that 'coolness'?

Thanks,
Cherilyn

[Carol Lois]

Yes, adding your friends' pictures in warm tones should do a lot to warm it up. I don't know about the flowers; they seem OK.
Do you have any individual grapes or flowers that you could scatter on the 'table top' itself? (Am I making sense?)
Good Luck! Carol Lois

[cherilyn]

Hello Carol,

Thanks again for your suggestions! I added the pictures and it does seem to 'warm' it up a bit...

[cherilyn]

And, here it is again with some extra grapes spilling onto the 'tabletop'. Which do you prefer?

Thanks for your help!
Cherilyn

[Ruth Brigitte]

Hi, I like your idea very much.
I don't like the second frame with the color washed in. It's too much...
I agree the whole comp. does look a little cold overall. Don't know how to fix it.

Here is just another thought to add:
Consider where you are hanging this. If there is a window or if the sunlight comes from the left, then your shadows are correct. Consider the light sources in the room!
Also, the way you have the "tabletop" recessed makes you have to hang the finished picture way below eyelevel. If you would include just a tad of the "ceiling" of the recessed niche, you could hang it at the normal eye level that everybody is used to. Just a thought....

[cherilyn]

Hello Ruth! Thank you very much for your suggestions. I see what you mean about the 'eye-level' thing! I hadn't thought of that. The light is definately coming from the left side so that part should look natural. I will rework the still-life and attempt to include the 'ceiling' portion of the recess.

Thanks again for your help!
~Cherilyn

[cherilyn]

Here is another attempt... (I've changed some of the colors to a warmer golden color. And, I've added a 'ceiling') What do you think of this composition?

[cherilyn]

I've added a few more items to the still life. Do you think it is too busy? Which composition do you like better?

Thanks for all your help! Without it, I might have just kept the first composition and I know I wouldn't have liked it much by the time I completed the actual drawing! It did seem very 'cold'!

Thanks again! And, please let me know if you have any other suggestions.
Cherilyn

[cherilyn]

And here it is again (one more time). This time without the wine bottle. Do you think it looks better with or without?

Thanks
~Cherilyn

[Ruth Brigitte]

Wow, what an improvement. I like the golden color, it looks so much more friendly now. Ceiling is a nice touch, too.;)
I think you have added too many things. I liked the original comp with 3 things: the flower vase, the heart picture and the silver/gold thingie (still don't know what it is) with the grapes spilling out. You have your work cut out for you, especially with the personalized photos in the back.
It's looking good!

PS Don't you love the easiness of playing around with stuff on the computer without wasting paints and canvas? I started doing that too, and it makes it so much easier to find mistakes or move things around.
Good luck!

[Carol Lois]

Cherilyn, The addition of spilled grapes is delightful. It's hard to choose among your other options probably because they all have merit. The best choice is the one you feel most ready to start.
Go for it now, I say!
Carol Lois

[henrik]

Original composition was best, but change to golden color. I like the first frame better; but think would look better with pattern on frame toned down a tad.
With the added grapes there is not enought air - composition gets to tighlty "squeezed into the frame". Compositions with glasses, bottle etc. are too busy IMO.

A small thing with the grapes, try to make them slightly overlap the edge of the plate they are on

[cherilyn]

Hello! Thank you all for your comments! I'm learning a lot from your suggestions.

Ruth... I do love using the computer to make such quick and easy changes! It has really helped me to visualize some of the murals I've done before. And, it seems to be of great use in developing this still life composition as well! The addition of a ceiling makes the piece much more believable. Thank you for your suggestion!

Carol... Thank you for your reply! I do like how this still life is improving and I'm much happier with the piece now. In fact, I'm finally looking forward to starting it!

Henrik... Thank you for your suggestions! Here is another rendition of my still life... (I tried to add some more 'air' space in the composition by making the area around the composition a little wider. I also attempted to tone down the pattern on the frame by making it a little less bold. And, I took away some of the grapes that were hanging over the edge of the tray.)

What do you all think of the changes? Do you have any other suggestions? Would you have left anything the same?

Thank you all very much for your help!
~Cherilyn

[cherilyn]

And, here it is again with more 'air' than the original but not pushed back as far as my last revision. Which do you prefer? Also, have I brought it too close to the front? Would it add to the illusion if a small part of the tray is sticking out from the recess and casting a shadow on the purple 'matting' area? Or, does it make the composition 'uncomfortable'?

Thanks,
Cherilyn

[Ruth Brigitte]

Oooh,
I like the last one you just posted, with the tray hanging out of the recess. Makes it really believable and more 3-D.

What are you waiting for, it's a perfect composition, start painting!!!

And don't forget to post some progress shots for us!

:clap:

[arlene]

Originally posted by cherilyn
And, here it is again with more 'air' than the original but not pushed back as far as my last revision. Which do you prefer? Also, have I brought it too close to the front? Would it add to the illusion if a small part of the tray is sticking out from the recess and casting a shadow on the purple 'matting' area? Or, does it make the composition 'uncomfortable'?

Thanks,
Cherilyn

from where your light source is coming, i'm thinking the right wall would be the darker wall...also your perspective on the vase is off in comparision to the table.

[Ruth Brigitte]

I think Arlene is right, the vase needs a rounded bottom, but the top edge should be left straight as is, since that's at your eye level.

But I think, the walls are correctly shadowed. If you figure that the light comes from the left, then it will shine on the right wall. And the left wall which is NOT facing the light source should be dark as shown.

When are you finally starting????

[henrik]

I liked the version with more air. I would also like to see some overlap - it is not so good when things just touch each other. I you wanted the tray to stick out you need to overlap the frame more.
In the attached edited version I moved the tray over to the left to make it overlap the left wall. Now there is also room to make a nice arrangement of the stray grapes on the right side. As you can see I went sort of halfway back to your original composition of the grapes on the tray.
(You could probably move the tray even further to the left to get more overlap BTW).

On perspective I don't know what to say since I do not know if you are just playig with clipart to arrive at a final composition (thus perspective not being so terribly important), or if you want to have non-natural perspective. It looks sort of cool the way it is - a collage, but if you want it to look realistic, you need to fix at least the perspective of the vase.

[cherilyn]

Hi! Thanks to all for your comments! I see what you mean Arlene (about the vase being 'off'). Thank you for pointing that out to me! Those are the types of things I need to learn to 'see' in order to create more realistic drawings/paintings. And, I think I see where the problem is with the lighting. I took many different pictures (with all different light sources) and 'pasted' them together. So, my main objective was to try and get the main shadows, perspectives, and composition to be fairly believable. I figured I would take the details (object shadows/highlights) into consideration once I started the project. But, again, thanks for pointing it out! I'm learning a lot from everyone's suggestions!

Henrik... Thank you for your rendition! I really like those changes. I never would've thought to move it over to the left. I always tend to center everything and that may be why I lose some of that realism in my drawings. I think this will be the final composition.

Ruth... I think I'm finally ready to start now! I'll be sure to keep you all updated!:)

Thank you all for your help!
~Cherilyn

[cherilyn]

Hello! It's finally finished! Didn't turn out exactly as I wanted but I learn something new everytime I finish another project. Thanks for all your help! Comments/Criticism are welcome!

~Cherilyn

[cherilyn]

Here are some closeups...

[cherilyn]

another closeup...

[Ruth Brigitte]

It's gorgeous!
Can you tell us the size, medium etc.?

I love the detail shot of the flowers! You must have a lot of patience. Also love the little gold frames. Don't tell us you painted the 3 photos too. They look sooooo real!
I like the whole composition and the colors. Very cool.

Thanks for keeping us posted on this painting!