Still Life: First Impressions

      I have painted plein air with Dick Heimbold and admire his work, so I was happy to have him demonstrate a still life in oils at the San Fernando Valley Art Club monthly meeting. Dick is a colorist who paints with the bold brushstrokes, vivid colors and thick paint. Dick started his demo with an under painting , blocking in the dark background and shapes of basic colors. At the break(see above photo) he had already achieved depth and contrasts that defined the different objects in the still life.

Dick Heimbold Painting

      With the mid tones on the canvas, Dick next step was to concentrate on the darkest areas. After that he then added the highlights. He advised, don't mix white with the warm colors of your palette. They are light enough and adding white only dilutes the pigment.

      Dick mentioned that he loves to apply a lot of heavy paint. He uses a medium by Gamblin called Galkyd which speeds up drying time and forms a dry surface. This allows additional application of other colors on top without smearing the color underneath. The advantage in using Galkyd is that the colors stay separated, clean and not muddy. The surface is not completely dry so it is also possible to mix the two colors if you want that effect.

      Another good insight from Dick was to keep the darker areas transparent and with a thin application of paint. Thick paint will reflect light and cause unusual highlights in the dark areas if they are applied with thick paint. Those highlights work on light areas and that is why the highlights should have thick paint. I loved this explanation of paint application because it makes so much sense.

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