We present an excerpt from the July/August American Artist feature on Philip R. Jackson that discusses how Jackson achieves his dramatic still-life setups.
To read more features like this, check out the July/August 2007 issue of American Artist.
by James A. Metcalfe
To help achieve his dramatic still-life setups, Jackson built a custom
box resembling a theatrical stage replete
with controlled lighting,
backdrop capabilities, and a reflective surface. “Most of my setups
require a careful touch in arranging the objects—they usually aren’t so
cooperative staying in a perfect balance,” he admits. “Often I use
string to hang objects or kneaded erasers to hold things in place or to
serve as a fulcrum. When using my custom stage, I utilize several
lights on a track to create various directions of shadow and
reflection. I then document my setups using a digital camera, and once
I have taken a number of shots from different angles, I bring the
images into Photoshop to finalize the composition and make color
corrections.” From that point he uses both the computer screen and the
actual setup from life to use as reference while painting.
Read the feature article on Jackson.
To read more features like this, check out the July/August 2007 issue of American Artist.