How to Set Up a Still Life

Nothing affects the success of your painting as much as compositional structure.
And nothing offers you more control of all the elements of a painting than still life. The objects, the setting, the lighting, You can arrange pretty much everything.
In this video I show a series of photos each one building both structure and interest towards the final image.
Whether you normally paint still lifes or not, the thinking behind creating one can help inform all your painting.
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My website: www.ianroberts.com/
Facebook page: / ianrobertsartist
Instagram @ianrobertsartist: / ianrobertsartist

[@davidpotter7482]

What a gold mine I stumbled onto when I followed up on your composition book. I have been refering to it for some time now. Thanks

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi David, glad you stumbled in. With best wishes.

[@karenmccallum8375]

Great video and thanks to whomever suggested it. I took an intro to still life painting workshop and it was disastrous because the instructor jumped straight into painting something she had set up in advance. We had to bring our own items and I struggled with the set up so much (like many others). Frustration before painting is never a good formula for success--I felt doomed at the start. Her techniques and knowledge were so good, but she was unable to teach the fundamentals I so badly needed and you so clearly laid out as usual. Tuesday mornings with Ian are good.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

HI Karen, I can just imagine being in that class. It's like baking a cake, first there is the recide (like the structure), then the cake (which is sort of the point really) and then there is the icing (which gets all the attention). Without the structure you are just of grasping at straws and hoping something works. I am delighted you found it helpful.

[@rumblef1sh]

Something I feel worth mentioning about still life over plein air, particularly for those starting out, is that unlike the great outdoors, conditions in the studio remain constant. This gives us much more time to think and act. I get that many consider plein air a way of 'sharpening skills' because our decision times are shorter, but personally I love having much more time to make my choices. Still life is a superb way of getting really deep into things like colour matching and value.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

I have the same experience. I find I'm in not rush with still life, it is more meditative and I find I build up more interesting nuances of shape and color because of it.

[@alisonhendry2928]

I love how your fundamentals can be used for all composition components. Pearls of wisdom. Thank you for all of these videos. I love Tuesday mornings!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Alison, I'm delighted you are enjoying the videos on Tuesdays. I did the still life one because of how tangible, I hoped, the principles are and how of course they can be transferred to other subjects. All the best.

[@alisonhendry2928]

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition I truly believe all of your principles can be applied to all subject areas. Shapes, values, light, dark, contrast, edges, horizontal and vertical planes and focal points all have a voice in any composition...I paint mostly animals and it still applies if I want my painting to be engaging. Robert Bateman was always one of my favourite painters and his abstract aspects to his realism are amazing, as well as his story.

[@laurencepaganelli6380]

Ive watched a lot of demos on utube.i want to compliment Ian on the clarity and fundamentals that he focuses on.thanks for such good and useful information Ian.

[@lynetremblay7680]

Thank you for explaining how to build the rest of the vertical structure using light streaks in the background wall in your squash painting. That was a problem for me. Solved!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Fantastic! Solved is good.

[@iaincphotography6051]

Bit of still life photography coming up I feel. Thanks, Ian.

[@valeriachilders]

I can't say enough how much i love your videos. You are a fantastic teacher and artist. I just went online and purchased your two books, one in kindle format and the other one as hard cover. I can't wait to start reading them. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@tehgc6092]

I'm a retiree just discovering art and what a great discovery I've made through your videos! Thanks!

[@susanwong6471]

Great illustration of composition- love the simplicity and clarity, with many examples to support the idea. I was initially looking for utube about how to set up a still life ( ie the lighting, shadow box etc), but this is do much better- thank you for sharing!!!

[@carjam49]

Your videos are so helpful. Lately I've been avoiding painting but I want to try your techniques. You're so organized.

[@javanthisingaram4843]

Thank you Ian for a simple and illustrative example for setting up a still life. The layering of different textures and shapes has added so much depth and vibrancy to the arrangement.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Javanthi, so this week I paint the same image and you're right as I paint it those textures and shapes, well that becomes a large part of what the painting is about. Glad you found this week's helpful.

[@deborahrech7429]

I set up a pretty sorry looking still life when doing a drawing exercise from your composition book. This video was very helpful in reinforcing how to think about the structure in setting it up.

[@karenharvell5673]

These videos are so helpful to me. You are an excellent teacher!

[@joannaspivey566]

These are beautiful!

[@mermette]

Sound is great. No echos. Bought both your books today.

[@monicacote6304]

Excelllent once again!

[@susanwong6471]

Great explanation and very practical illustration- thank you so much for sharing the knowledge 💕

[@annmarielopiccolo-carlsen7263]

I have never painted or assembled a still life work....very interesting to learn about how to compose and arrange objects with specific attention given to the light source. I also like the idea of a constrained structure to compose....using a formula but changing the subject, and, therefore, the composition. I particularly like using the practice of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines to direct the eye to the center of attention. Thank you....looking forward to the completed painted work next week.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Ann Marie, well you give a very good summary of the whole idea of the video. Makes me happy that the ideas were clear. Or at least you certainly got them. Just finished the still life yesterday. All the best.

[@Isamolle]

Thanks for creating this!

[@hanifecakmakl9958]

videolarınızdan çok yararlanıyorum.Teşekkür ederim.

[@swishdk44]

Super! Very helpful in understanding still life set up

[@hanhvuong8898]

Thank you teacher.

[@BibleStudyPastor]

Very helpful! Thank you. I can see how the cloth helps bring interest and texture, as well as in some of your examples a strong vertical. So it's not just the interest of the objects that are the center of interest. Aha!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Ralph, the center of interest is actually usually the strongest contrast in the painting, The eye is pulled to contrast. So where you have the strongest contrast that is where the eye will keep getting pulled. As you say it isn't the object itself but the edge between one thing and another that creates the contrasts and the strongest one is at the focal point.

[@lisafred1362]

Ian this was so useful. In your book I was blown away by your explanation of how drapery can make or break a composition but this was even more useful reinforcing the book explanation. I could see many more videos like this.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Lisa, it is interesting the way writing about, and illustrating , an idea and making a video of the same idea offers such different ways of learning something. Videos allow for way more steps and explanation of what is primarily a visual idea. Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for letting me know.

[@cheyenneroll]

Could you consider doing a segment on Lighting for the studio, and for your set up? All I have are clip on shop lights, however I know one can spend a fortune on a basic lighting set up. Thanks, Ian for another helpful video!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Ann, glad you liked this one. For the still life I usually try and get the studio as dark as possible so the single light source really lights up the still life. Then I have enough light coming in through the windows on the doors with the shades down in order to have enough to see to paint. But you're talking about lighting the studio in general I think. So yes I can do that another week. All the best to you.

[@GrandmaMuggy]

Ian, that was great information. So glad to see a still life!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Great, glad you liked it Joanne. The idea of structuring a still life is good because of the amount of control we have the elements involved.

[@SerMattzio]

3D artist here and this is very helpful when studying how to set up interesting scenes. Thank you :)

[@sandysoul99]

Ian, Thanks so much for making these videos. I'm somewhat new to visual art, and I appreciate this invaluable information.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Delighted you are enjoying them Sandy. All the best.

[@elsagrace3893]

I’m so grateful for you blessing us with your knowledge. I’ve read in several comments that you have a book. I must look into it.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi again Elsa, really glad you are getting something out of the videos. Penguin Random House just reprinted the book. Best.

[@lanaschuster7630]

Great to see how your line for the vertical takes a few jogs, rather than just straight up and down. Expands my idea of what serves as a vertical axis. I was also thinking about substituting the pears for the oranges in the still life with the blue vase. I really liked the shape of the pears in that composition but agree that yellow wasn’t the best. Golden russet bosc pears have great color - they might work.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Lana, the vertical could start on the right hand side and jog around on its way down and end up on the left hand side. That in fact could enhance how the eye moves over the whole picture plane. I agree with you about which pears I chose. I like the shape of bosc pears more than say barlett. But the color just didn't work in this setup. Good to hear from you. All the best.

[@dianahmclaughlin]

Great video Ian! Very concise and understandable explanation of setting up a still life.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Thanks Diana. All the best. See you the 20th.

[@ArtistInNewHampshire]

Thanks!

[@sarahsilve3106]

Wonderful as always!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Thanks so much. Appreciate your letting me know.

[@michelles2299]

Oranges and the blue vase ❤️

[@rhodahmueni6040]

I like how you teach

[@jdschneider5858]

Thank you for your composition ideas! They work for watercolor painters too! I am jealous, though, of your ability to paint "sky holes" with oil paint!!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Different problem with wc for sure.

[@Jenartbird]

We read English left to right. I feel the first set up with light coming from the right stops my eye at the center of interest and doesn’t want to further investigate the left half of the design. Your next compositions, with lighting coming from the left do allow my eye to explore after the lead in to the center of interest. I’d love to know your thoughts, Ian. Thanks for your excellent videos that always address composition first, then value and finally, color! Best wishes, Jennifer

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Jennifer, those are good observations and sensitivity of what your eye is doing as it looks at a painting. I cannot say this was mentally articulated before I began, rather I'm sure it was just a feeling, but I'd say the one where you were drawn up to the top right and didn't feel to explore the left hand side was "deliberate" in the sense of having large empty shapes contrasting with smaller, tighter shapes (up in the focal point). I like that contrast of big to small, simple to more complex. So I think the two paintings have fundamentally different structure ideas informing them. Does that make sense?

[@peachmccomb1804]

Very helpful! Seldom have I heard a clearer explanation of how to set up a still life. The diagram line examples helped a lot, as did pulling the cloth out from under the fruit to remove the connection.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Peach, well for me at least it beats just putting stuff on a table hoping for the best. It is a way to at least start with a sense of some structure and rationale to what you're doing. Glad you found it helpful. Best wishes.

[@marieczm5970]

Nice and simple! I also noticed that you end up with the center of interest on/ or close to a point using the rule of third.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Marie, I think when I"m setting it up I'm always trying to push it out towards the edges of the picture plane. The further the better sometimes. But ending up on the thirds you usually can't go too far wrong.

[@isabellefoubert785]

magnifique et passionnant. Je ne trouve malheureusement pas la seconde partie de cette vidéo. isabelle

[@rolisonpaint3]

Thought process explained was great. Oranges worked better with blue vase, because they're complements, I'm thinking.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Loretta, as someone suggested maybe those reddish pears might have worked. But I bought oranges and pears and I wasn't going back to the store again. But the pears were just sort of too dull. The oranges as I painted it were sort of too intense, but that is easier to deal with than artificially cranking the intensity of something everyone knows is a dull brown. And to your point the orange did work well with the blue vase.

[@brianbeilke8855]

Thank you, Ian. Informative and inspirational, as always!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

You are welcome Brian. Best wishes.

[@jayryan2433]

Thanks Ian, it was nice to see Still Life for a change. Very interesting. Do you have any favorite Still Life painters?

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Jay, well I like Chardin. I'm going to show one this week of the wonderful nuanced surfaces he gets. All the best.

[@annwilliams1314]

@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition do you ever work in watercolor? I love the transparency and the paper. You are a much better teacher than I was. Love it!

[@deniswagner9458]

Did the oranges work better because they are complementary to the blue vase?

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Yes, I found the thing fell sort of flat with the pears. The orange to the blue had a real kick. Those pale pears would need a quieter surrounding I think

[@heatherhaywood6997]

Do u always use a cloth???I don't particularly like the drapes all the time

[@gregautryphoto]

vertical...up n down...right :) ? Oh, not oil ? or is it .. ?

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Greg, I'm not sure your question. Do you mean that when you paint in oils that actually the horizontal is switched and becomes vertical. And you know of course that is the case. It is only with water based mediums, watercolor and acrylic, that the horizontal stays horizontal otherwise all the paint would just slide off the paper. Hope that makes sense.

[@maryannesiewert5166]

still life control

[@ai-man212]

The University System is doomed. I give structural colleges 30 years at most.