Painting Still Life with Hiroshi Yamamoto - May 14th, 2011
Sketching is a way of quickly capturing a composition, trying out ideas and getting a starting point for a painting. Our instructor, Hiroshi Yamamoto, often creates sketches and in his workshop he encouraged workshop participants to make sketching a part of their art practice before painting. Hiroshi brought many objects for us to practice sketching and later painting still life.
Something like an asparagus stock has shape, texture and shades of colour to sketch.
Hiroshi showed us his sketch books which were filled with black-and-white and coloured sketches.
Then it was our turn to sketch a variety of unique items.
Bok choy and other vegetables captured the attention of some workshop participants.
Tulips were another favourite.
Hiroshi Yamamoto donated some of his paintings to Art for Japan, an exhibition by Japanese artists to raise money for the victims of the tsunami that recently struck Japan.
The second part of the workshop switched to painting what we had sketched.
The previous sketch provided a starting point to structure the painting.
The still life workshop prompted discussion amongst the workshop participants as they shared ideas and cake and tea courtesy of Linda Nakatsu and Dianne Kitazaki.
Then the paintings were taped to the wall for a workshop exhibition.
Sketches were also hung creating a vibrant presentation.
Then Hiroshi Yamamoto began analyzing the paintings.
Each painting had pros and cons, which Hiroshi elaborated.
Some had a good sense of composition, other works had excellent brush work.
Workshop participants found something to admire in their fellow artists' works.
Deciding where to place the impression of a seal on a painting usually sparks opinions. Hiroshi suggested some appropriate locations.
Shading is an important part of painting. The paintings had a variety of tones.
Workshop participants commented on their own paintings and on others' paintings.
The idea was to learn from each other by sharing observations.
Some paintings made effective use of white space too by using a few brush strokes and letting the viewer fill in the rest of the work.
Everyone learned something today Hiroshi reminded us. We gained skills in sketching and painting still life followed by objective analysis, all of which are needed to progress.
Sketching, painting what you see in front of you, learning from others are ways of growing as an artist.