Painting Still Life with Hiroshi Yamamoto - March 10th, 2012
With a box of crayons as he travels about, Hiroshi Yamamoto sketches scenes that catch his eye. As Hiroshi told the participants at his still life workshop, sketching takes more time than taking a photo but that time increases your memory and comprehension of the subject, which is important when you turn to painting later.
His sketches reflect both general patterns and subtle details in nature. Leaves on branches, for example, become in themselves an interesting study.
Hiroshi also uses ink on his sketches through some ink pencils.
He also has used Q Tips to add some ink to a subject he is sketching.
Hiroshi Yamamoto then uses these sketches to produce paintings later such as these radishes.
A single branch from a strawberry plant turned into this painting.
This plant was another painting that Hiroshi showed at the painting still life workshop.
Then it was our turn to sketch some still life objects, which would then be turned into paintings.
Hiroshi Yamamoto had brought many interesting objects to paint. Workshop participants also brought personal items that they themselves wanted to study, sketch and paint.
Vegetables were found on many desks. No matter the subject, it proved challenging to capture the essence of an object.
Bright flowers were a vibrant subject for these workshop participants.
Rabbits and more vegetables captured the interest of this participant.
Cats and grapes were an interesting combination to study.
A wine bottle and another set of grapes fascinated this artist.
The goal of the workshop participants was to sketch some objects and then do a painting of something they liked within the time of the workshop.
Then we all had the chance to show and tell what we did.
Some paintings were quite detailed despite the short time.
Everyone seemed to like the challenge of quickly painting based on sketches. At this point they also were allowed to talk about their experience.
Hiroshi Yamamoto summarized a few pros and cons of each painting.
He picked out highlights so that others in the workshop could learn from their peers.
Sketching and painting still life turned into a fun and participatory learning experience.
Still life lets you see the art in everyday objects.