Still Life Oil Painting with Virgil Elliott

Painting in oils from direct observation, the way it was done before cameras were invented.

Still life painting has traditionally served two main purposes for artists: to keep them busy in between more challenging projects, and to produce “potboilers,” i.e., small paintings to sell quickly and thus provide something for the artist’s soup pot. While these purposes remain as valid today as they ever were, the genre has gained in respectability in modern times, and in any case is an entirely satisfying pursuit for those of us who simply love to paint. This workshop will involve painting in oils from direct observation of a still-life setup. Participants in this workshop may choose from several optional methods, including grisaille, the bistre method, limited palette color, and full palette color, according to each person’s experience, ambition and confidence level. These approaches are discussed in Virgil Elliott’s book, Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Technique…