Still Life Painting

Learn the art of still life painting and understand the importance of working from real life compositions in the studio to train the eye to see and understand the infinitely complex possibilities for creating dynamic compositions through the quiet power of everyday objects.

Anthony Cahill introduces you to the rich tradition of still life painting, from the Dutch Golden Age to Modernism and contemporary art, following in the footsteps of what Edouard Manet called the ‘touchstone of painting’. Anthony discusses the poetic use of allegory and metaphor when choosing objects to paint, and shows how to use this genre as a vehicle for exploring and better understanding all aspects of observational painting. He teaches with practical demonstrations, lectures and one-to-one tuition, encouraging you to develop short sketches on paper, leading into preparatory studies for larger, sustained paintings on board and canvas.

Students will be encouraged to select and arrange objects from personal collections to create their own still life compositions and to develop the skills and techniques to paint them with flair. Use oils, acrylics and mediums of your own choice.

*Short courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. For students under 16 years of age there are School Holiday Workshops, Art Club and other youth art programs.

Anthony Cahill has been exhibiting his paintings and drawings in commercial, public and artist-run galleries in Australia and abroad for the last four decades.

His paintings explore notions of landscape and human presence within a contemporary representation of landscape painting. Anthony is drawn to notions of the absurd and his working method is intuitive and improvisational.

Recently he was selected for the Dobell Drawing Prize, and has been a finalist in numerous art prize exhibitions including the JADA Drawing Award, Colleen Art Award , Fishers Ghost, Naked Nude, to name a few. Anthony is a long-standing faculty member of the drawing and painting departments at NAS, and he holds a Masters Degree of Fine Arts in drawing. His work is held in public and private collections, visit his website at www.anthonycahillartist.com

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below.

For week 1 of the course, students should only bring basic materials as listed below. Anthony will discuss more specific needs with everyone on the first day. If there are any particular materials you would like to use or learn to use in the class, you can bring those along also. If you already have any paints, please bring them along. If not, see the list of basic colours below (any questions can be discussed in the first week). More experienced students may bring along their paints and an assortment of brushes and tools.

Basic Paint Colours

• Warm Red (Cadmium Red hue)
• Cool Red (Alizarin Crimson hue)
• Cool Yellow (Lemon Yellow)
• Warm Yellow (Cadmium Yellow hue)
• Warm Blue (Ultramarine Blue)
• Cool Blue (Phalo Blue)

Basic Materials

• Notebook and pen
• Filbert/Brights and/or round but just basic/minimum – specific brushes can be discussed in first week.
• Painting medium/Odourless solvent if using oils – Can also be discussed first week.
• Sketchbook or paper
• Charcoal
• Medium-sized canvas or board (approx. 45cm x 60cm)