Other artists' ideas
If you find that your arrangement of objects is not working, you could turn to another artist for ideas. In art, getting ideas from - and sometimes even copying-artists that are admired is an important way of learning.
The examples below are inspired by the artist Chardin. He was famous for arranging the simplest still life paintings sensitively. His work, A Bowl of Plums, which he painted c 1798, was the inspiration for the three different viewpoints of the same arrangement below. (You can search for this work online.) This arrangement is not exactly the same but uses his idea of a few plums in lovely warm orange colours, with a jug against a dark background.
Which one do you prefer?
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| The landscape format allows the plums to lead your eye through the work. | Here the portrait format makes you feel the bowl of plums might tip off the page. | This work is very dark so you can hardly see some edges. The darkness creates warmer colours and the diagonal movement across the picture space works well. |
Now it is your turn to experiment with alternative arrangements of a still life composition.
- Collect the objects. When you are choosing them think about contrast (for example contrasting shapes, sizes, colours and textures).
- Arrange the objects. When you are arranging them think about your idea and what you want to emphasise. Will lighting help?
- Record different viewpoints in your visual diary. As you look through the viewfinder think of ways to create movement through your picture space.
Remember that you cannot know which arrangement is the best if you have not tried several alternatives.
