vegetable still life Archives - INESE'S ART STUDIO

June 20, 2023June 20, 2023

Pastel paintings of vegetable still life and nature

Pastel for still life paintings

Pastel is a unique medium. Using pastel sticks and pencils, we are applying pure pigment to the surface. I love pastel because it is the bridge between drawing and painting. I haven’t published many of my pastel paintings because they are difficult to photograph. This pastel still life paintings of vegetables and nature elements were done for my private art classes. Many people want to master drawing nowadays. Not trace and copy but learn being able to naturally draw.

Great start for good results

Drawing is very tough to teach since for the most part, people don’t see what’s important for drawing, as well are hesitant to put in efforts and practice. First step is to learn seeing, then we start developing our line work, after that we learn what’s important in painting, like recognizing values, applying contrast, shadows and so forth. Still life paintings in pastel are a fantastic starting point. I use pastel surface in dark grey and advise my students to do the same. That covers the darkest values already and is much friendlier surface than white. The same goes for acrylic painting.

Still life paintings of food and vegetables

Medium which doesn’t expire

Pastel still life paintings allow for many layers of pigments. That’s one more great feature: we build up the value and color as we go. I use Gallery and Faber Castell pencils and pastel sticks, as well as Conte pastel pencils. Each one has its application and suits for one or another step. I don’t have any specific tools and don’t use extra expensive pastel surfaces. All of this I had bought some 15 or more years ago. I love the pure colors of Conte pencils and subdued tones of my Faber Castell pencils. Gallery provides with pastel sticks in different sizes and numerous very attractive colors.

Layering for values and contrast

My process of using pastel pencils is exactly the same what for other medium. Dark surface, quick sketch, stronger values and darker tones first, after that I layer in lighter colors defining the shapes at the same time. The more layers, the more beautiful and saturated the pastel painting looks. Vegetable still life painting is a wonderful subject. Choose whatever you prefer and in whatever color or shape. We don’t have to limit ourselves with just peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, there are lots of attractive shapes out there in the most wonderful colors.

Choice of subject

Still life paintings in pastel look gorgeous whatever items we use. The giving hands of nature was combined during the class since my student needed to paint hands and so we just filled them in with stuff from a magazine cover. Well, we just used it for inspiration, but added different colors and shapes. The herbal teacup was a nightmare to take picture of. iPhone camera changed the perspective so that it looked all wrong. The actual paintings are fantastic, and as you know no photo can ever compare to the original painting.

Summer subjects

Still life paintings in pastel are one the greatest summer subjects also. I cannot travel much because of the chronic pain which has worsened during the last year notably. Therefore, I use what I see around and paint in all kinds of combinations which are endless. I disagree that still life is boring. It’s the best way to teach about the multiple aspects and principles of painting also. These principles are all the same whether you paint buildings, faces, figures, flowers or landscapes.

Still life paintings which matter

I hope you will love my still life paintings, as well as the Giving hands of nature. It was almost impossible to take pictures of them. Well, at least the idea will be visible. Hands painting is huge, very hard to take pictures of. Each week I will feature one painting which goes for a lot less than usually. It will be available on Special offers page:

Learn pastel painting in private art classes:

Private art lessons

Also, still life paintings are most frequently sold as prints: Still life paintings available as prints

I hope your summer is fantastic!

July 29, 2020March 6, 2023

Summer poetry in colors and lines

The poetic medium – watercolor

Watercolor is a very poetic medium. That’s not only because of its flow and easy transition of colors, it is also because nothing else captures our mood, idea, concept or scene as impressive and as fast as watercolor does. Managing classic watercolor painting takes mastery. We can apply it very abstractly allowing water and pigment to create the initial shapes and values, or we can use watercolor in many layers making it opaque and creating strong dimension and volume.

World watercolor month

World watercolor month is getting close to its end. I usually do not devote or create specific paintings during July, but keep using it as I normally would since it is one of my preferred mediums. I like applying watercolor in many different ways: from very abstract to very detailed and from almost animated to very realistic. Our painting style is usually a summary of our personal objectives and intentions. Generally, I do not aim for a very lifelike look, but rather impression my artwork makes. I participate in shows and exhibitions and I want my art to be visible and standing out among hundreds of other paintings. It quite often does thanks to style, colors and large size.

Good energy

Please enjoy the gallery, and you might like to purchase some art or art print which comes in numerous options for frames, mats and printing surfaces. Print is not original, but in specific spaces it definitely serves the purpose: it gives a space complete look and never stops inspiring and being beautiful. There is never too much beauty in our surroundings. Good art is valuable because of energy it sends out. Energy presence is almost touchable in my art.

African violet, watercolor, 20 x 14 in or 51 x 36 cm

I used to have numerous African violet plants.

A few survived, and these are the ones I have been painting.

Garden roses on fence were painted in winter of 2019.

Probably the saddest time ever. since my mom passed away in February.

All paintings of this time are so uplifting, light and cheerful. For balance.

Pansies, watercolor — Purple pansies, 20 x 14 in or 51 x 36 cm

Pansies belong to my favorite painting models. Purple fits them well because of all variations.

Purple pansies are somewhat abstracted and painted using watercolor wash and a few strong edges.

The summer still life paintings have been in creation for a long time. I started them probably in 2016, but they got their finishing touches only now. They both have very vibrant colors, just as summer vegetables do, and everything which has great shape worth capturing, suits my still life well. Enjoy!

Summer still life, 20.5 x 16 in or 52 x 41 cm and Kitchen still life, 18 x 24 in or 46 x 61 cm, both watercolor

Please, visit my Fine Art America site for all kinds of artistic products:

July 21, 2020March 6, 2023

Still life with personal touch

Blue, green and orange still life by Inese Poga

This post has many pictures, make sure to check them out. I decided to devote a special article to my still life paintings since it has been an important genre for me for many decades.. In languages which I speak fluently (native Latvian, German, English and Russian), still life is called as follows:

Still life: English

Stilleben: German

Hатюрморт: Russian

Klusā daba: Latvian

Nature morte: French

Naturaleza muerta: Spanish

Natura morta: Italian

Wikipedia gives a brief historic overview of still life as a genre, and I don’t think I need to repeat it.

Etymology and direct meaning

Translating literally, still life means dead nature in French, Italian and Spanish and Italian and Spanish have presumably borrowed it from French. The direct meaning of English still life is “life which is not moving and making no sound”; not moving and silent life – in German. Russian uses a loanword from French; hence French was spoken in all higher educated circles in Russia for quite a while until the Socialist revolution in 1918. Still life in Latvian means “silent nature” referring to rather making no sound than not moving. I find this very amazing. I do stick in my still life paintings with “nature that isn’t moving, but is visibly alive”.

Spring tulips and cup with color background

My still life

As a native Latvian, I have formed my understanding of still life based on classic Latvian art. I especially adored Latvian art which was created between 18^th and 19^th century and around the beginning of 20^th century. Latvians used to go to France and Italy to study art, therefore, the influence is undeniable. The part I never liked and to which I developed internal opposition was the use of mainly cold raw umber and rather muddy earth and dirty blue color in still life art between the WWII and 60-s of the previous century. However, they worked well in combination with grey color since grey has many thousands of shades. When I was younger, I couldn’t stand such color combinations.

The beginning of my personal style

I initially was somewhat really naturalistic. I could sit for hours in the garden or in my room and draw leaves, plants and flowers between age 10 and 16. I drew also people and faces of my sister and other relatives, but for still life, I didn’t have to ask anybody to sit and stay there for a few hours. Back in 60s and 70s of 20^th century while Latvia was still in the Soviet Union, I could mostly use what I got from our garden. Vegetables and fruit lasted longer than flowers, so, I developed a special love to them. I used just pencil and watercolor on a bad quality paper. I didn’t have lots of art supplies, often not even eraser. That taught me drawing so that I wouldn’t need eraser. I didn’t have obviously camera and printer, and nobody knew anything about the internet yet.

The subject of still life

Still life with fruit and flowers, watercolor

I have most often certain requirements when setting up a still life. I use something man-made, such as bowl, cup, jar or mug, box, books or similar items. I implement some flower or leaves, or the entire plant whenever I have it, and that establishes the living part of my still life. I also love adding either fruit or vegetables since they are always available. I sometimes cleaned out the fridge, and my husband used to joke that we didn’t eat for the entire month while I painted my still life. Big is definitely more impactful, and I go with full sheet watercolor paper (22 x 30 inches or 56 x 76 cm) when I have a good quality paper. The same about acrylic painting of still life. The small size is about 16 x 20 inches or 41 x 51 cm with just a very few exceptions that are even smaller. Painting big size art is much easier for me and I always prefer that assuming I have enough time and appropriate art supplies.

A very attractive genre

Over years, I have painted numerous still life paintings. Many have been sold as prints. I cannot include all still life paintings, but just a few in one post. These paintings are recently finalized, but started even 10 years ago. The “Spring tulips and cup” painting was done like that. Pictures I was taking years ago, do not look that good any longer, but I cannot get better ones from framed art which is under glass. For these paintings, I had only my sketch or drawing for reference.

My reference for my still life painting — I could finish this painting because I had created a value drawing in the same size what painting is: 20 x 24 inches or 51 x 61 cm, therefore, I had reference

Watercolor painting, still life — Still life with blue, 25.5 x 20 in or 64 x 51 cm

It is usually difficult to get true pictures of paintings and how the viewer sees my paintings, depends on their device. I certainly tried. I have 4 monitors at 2 computers, and every image looks very different on each one of them. These paintings are available as art prints also. Thanks for reading!

More about my still life art, click on image for article:

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July 30, 2011December 28, 2022

Focusing on still life and garden scenes

Summer is a great time to engage in plein-air painting.

I recently painted a garden scene called “Take a Rest” with some flowers and garden tools.

I use real scenes and real set-ups to create my paintings, I somehow cannot paint using photos, I just can’t.

First, I do a freehand drawing. The weather was very good for a while, so, I could paint every day outdoors. I had set up the exact items in my backyard, and it was a double pleasure to paint there.

The other painting is a still life called “Kitchen Symphony”.

I had set up all items in my art studio where I have a good light. For my paintings, daylight is extremely important because of color adjustment. Any artificial light changes color.

I think, both paintings came out quite nicely, however, it was very late when I took a photo of my garden scene, so the light might be not that perfect.

I hope you enjoy such art!

More of my still life: Painting still life