The Truth of Still Life Painting

“Still life is the touchstone of painting.” – Édouard Manet
A still life. One type may be a painting of a flower put with various fruits or vegetables surrounding its base. Another might evoke the mortality of life and involve a skull amongst one’s personal belongings.
It was not until the Renaissance that still life emerged as an independent painting genre. An interest in observing and then realistically representing the material details of the environment, the rise of a wealthy middle class, and an increasing demand for secular subjects in painting —all were factors that contributed to the rise of still-life painting in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The MMoA is pleased to offer its own Renaissance artist – Dan Truth. Dan will be offering a still life class focused on realism using Classical teaching styles and methods. Students will learn how to capture on canvas what our eyes observe. Instruction will focus on preparing a canvas, composition, underpainting, layering techniques, as well as understanding the complexities of color mixing, creating luminosity, and realistically rendering the qualities of the visual elements. Students are welcome to work in oils or acrylics.
A still life is timeless.
“But in a still life, there is no end to our looking, we look in and in…. as long as we can stand to look, as long as we take pleasure in looking.”
― Mark Doty
Sign up for Dan’s Still Life Painting class today.