After several years as a successful still-life photographer, Karen Burns found herself drawn toward still-life painting. As she pursued her new medium of oils, she found that while her photographer’s eye proved beneficial, her best paintings were rendered not from a photo but from life. Since then, her process has always begun with arranging a still-life setup in her Northern California studio. “Painting from life gives me the opportunity to not only paint what I see, but to improvise a bit,” Burns says.
Karen Burns’s still-life setup
The initial block-in
Adding local color
The finished painting
Numerous vintage props line her shelves for inspiration. Her setups usually combine of one of these objects made of pottery or metal with something fresh like fruit, flowers, or leaves. Getting the setup right is important to the artist. “It might fall together right away, or it might take a couple hours,” she says. Even when she’s satisfied with the initial arrangement, she doesn’t paint it right away. “I like to sleep on it first,” she explains.
Burns typically starts and finishes the painting the next day. “I prefer painting wet on wet,” she says. Each piece begins with an underpainting to tone the panel. Next she arranges the shapes, blocks in darks and shadows, works out the background color, and adds some local color. She then builds up the scene with thicker paint, applying the thickest paints to the lights and the areas closest to the viewer. “My goal is to draw the eye through the painting with light,” she says, adding, “everything is really all about the light for me.”
To learn more about Karen Burns’ artwork and creative process, visit https://karenburnsphoto.com. –Lindsay Mitchell
Key to studio photo:
1. My easel
2. Shelf to store extra frames
3. Still life setup area
4. Glass palette
5. Cabinet full of props
6. A few framed paintings and some of my favorite props
7. Shelves for drying/curing paintings tucked into plate racks
8. Work station for things that don’t require holding a brush
9. My shadow!
10. My hubby’s little corner