Studying Still Life Oil Painting with Robert Johnson

 I am in a 3 day workshop studying oil painting with master artist Robert Johnson. I studied with him earlier this year and learned so much that I decided to work with him again to deepen my learning. It is good to study with different artists, but once you find someone whose approach and teaching style fit with you, it's a good idea to focus and go deeper with that teacher. I'll briefly share his approach here:

Still Life set up for demonstration

In the design phase, Robert starts our with a toned canvas and with one fairly neutral color( Transparent Oxid Red and Ultramarine Blue), he loosely places the big shapes, knowing that at this stage anything can easily be changed.

Next he wipes out the light areas and lays in the background and a wash for the rug color

He begins with the largest shapes and center of interest- the sugar bowl and red rose. During this phase he shifts his approach to lay in each brushtroke very deliberately to be descriptive. It's an "alla prima" approach where his intention is to put down a brushstroke and leave it so he is very carefully observing the shape, color, value, edges of each area he's painting and then using each brushstroke to describe that.

Here's the finished painting. (still wet on the easel, so ignore the clip on top) it certainly captures the set up, but is actually much more beautiful. It looks highly finished, but up close it is actually looser than it appears.

Robert is not only a wonderful artist who clearly has worked long and hard to develop his level of mastery, but is also a great teacher who generously shares his passion for art and learning. I plan to continue my studies with him in 2012.

 If you want to learn more about Robert Johnson's paintings, workshops, dvd's or beautiful book( one of my favorites) "On Becoming a Painter. visit his website Robert Johnson Art