I did this still life oil painting class last year 28 Oct '06. Yes, I have been so busy with work and stuff that it took me so long to organise and upload this. I have not used oil paints before and wanted to have a go to see the difference between oil and acrylic.

I wouldnt say Im good at still life. The only closest thing I did was still life sketching in high school. Thus this is a whole new experience for me. I didnt realise it takes so much observation, effort, patience and time to get the painting to look "life-like".

We started off with a simple object. I chose an apple. You might think its easy but the more reflection in an object the harder it is to paint. For eg an egg would have been much harder to capture than an apple.

Before we started, we were advised to choose a small canvas to start with. I wondered why. After finishing my 1st painting of the apple, I understood why. It takes time for you to lay out your object, sketch, lay out your palette and start painting. The hardest part for me was mixing the exact colour and getting the tones and texture right.

This contrasts my abstract painting where I choose a canvas big or small, start mixing my colours and never quite know what my painting is gonna end up looking till the end.

Anyway, this is a very fun and rewarding experience for me. Its good to learn the basics. I have learnt that its better to work with a non-white background. In this case a raw umber or brown base. One thing good about oil paint is that it looks so vibrant and the colours look the same as the day you paint it. Also, you can use a cloth to rub off charcoal marks or colour if you are not satisfied with it. Cons is that it is quite troublesome to wash it off your hands!