Photography, Color and Painting: It’s all part of the process

photo still life: Blue Pottery

It’s nice when my day job and painting life merge, and it usually has something to do with photography, one of my joys. Today I’m gearing up for a blog post at McCall’s Magazine about the color blue. Pottery is one of my favorite things and blue glazes attract me like a bee to flowers. Blue ones.

It’s nice to compose a photo with just the right light to work with when painting still life. Then you are free to put away the pottery and eat the oranges before your cat starts batting things around.

"Apples and an Orange", oil by KG Taylor

If you are working with fresh flowers, getting a photo is even more essential. This painting is one of my favorites from a time when I painted in a more realistic fashion. (The photo would have been nothing without the cloth draping behind it all!)

I take several shots from many angles, rearranging things in between. Then I study and edit, crop, etc. Photography and drawing are quite alike in process. It’s so much about composition. Once the idea emerges, it’s to the paints.