Tutorial: How to Paint a Still Life

Since I have started school, blogging has been placed last on my priorities list.  I've missed the cooking and DIYing, and of course, I've missed hearing from my readers. Then I came up with a great idea...why not bring my school work to my blog? Sounds fabulous!  Remember the painting class I was so excited for that I made a bag to hold all of my paint brushes?  Well, it's going wonderfully and I am having a great time learning how to paint.  I'll show you basic steps to start you on your still life, and let me know how it goes!  It is very relaxing, and the perfect escape from a busy schedule.  It does take a while to complete, but you don't have to complete it in a single day.  I would encourage you to give it a shot :]

Materials:

Oil Paint
Canvas
Brushes
Palette for your paint
Solvent Mixture (1/2 part stand oil and 1/2 part mineral spirits)
Piece of paper
Pencil & Eraser
Paper towels (to clean brushes)
Easel or surface to paint on
Light source (I used a desk lamp)
Apron (optional, but recommended) 

Step One: Set up your display

Keep in mind that you want a pleasing composition.  A light source adds shadows, which will give your painting dimension.

Step Two:  Thumbnail sketch

 This will allow you to decide where exactly you are going to place your objects on your canvas.  (Landscape vs portrait layout, fitting everything the frame vs cropping)

Step Three:  Sketch it on your canvas

Make sure to include the shadows! (I know my vase is shorter than it is supposed to be, but I didn't want to crop it out of the frame.)

Step Four: Refine

Use Burnt Umber to outline your sketch, but be sure to refer back to the display.  (Your sketch drawing may not be completely accurate.)

Step Five: Fill in shadows

Use Burnt Umber again to fill in the shadows, applying the solvent mixture to thin out your paint.

Step Six: Paint your darkest darks and lightest lights

Step Seven: Cover your canvas

Step Eight: Blending and Details

The thing I love about oil paint is that it takes a while to dry, unlike acrylic.  So blending is much easier to do. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! You don't have to have a fancy set up to do this (I covered my ironing board and used it for my materials). Just have fun :]

<3 Saleena

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DIY: Recent Projects

I haven't updated you in while and for that I apologize.  These past few weeks have been stressful, to say the least.  Now I know why people have longer engagements! Planning a wedding in four months is tough, especially because I am doing so much of it myself.  But on the other hand, all of the DIY projects have made this experience so enjoyable...even if they are time consuming.

 I want to share some projects with you that I finished up this weekend.  The first is the flower girl basket.  I bought a darling pink basket at the Goodwill for $3, some moss at Michael's for about $5, and added a scrap of lace I had left over from my Love Bird project.  Total cost: $8

My next project was the guestbook.  I didn't want the traditional guestbook because I knew I would never look at it again.  When I came across the Thumb Print guestbook, I  fell in love with the idea.  This way I will be able to hang it up in our home, and enjoy it every day.  I got my inspiration from CottageCreekArts on Etsy, who incorporated the love birds theme into the painting.  I would have bought the painting from them, but the price tag was a bit too high for my budget.  For a canvas, brushes, ink, pen, and paint, the total cost: $40

My third project was the masks for the photo booth.  I bought plain plastic masks and feathers at Michaels.  All it needed was a little time and some hot glue, and vuala :]  Total cost: $6

16 MRE DAYS!!!

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