Still Life inspired by the Old Masters - Sonia Bacchus 

Tuesday 8th January 2013 

Sonia Bacchus gave us a fascinating talk and beautiful painting demonstration of a still life in acrylic and oil paints.

Her work is inspired by the old masters and she produces figurative paintings with the main focus of her work being light and shadow.  Her painting subjects include still life, portraits, nudes, landscapes and pets.  
Sonia was born in Lodz, Poland where she studied for a Master of Fine Art Degree. She has also been involved with the film industry as a scenery artist and wardrobe assistant painting murals and making costumes.

Sonia first talked to us about the origins of still life painting and oil painting with particular reference to the Dutch Masters.

Sonia had set up a still life which included glass and copper with a strong light to give a wonderful shadow which would then make up an important part of the composition.  She began her painting on a pale ochre coloured canvas and used grid lines painted in watercolour to help form her composition onto the canvas.  This is a great tip as these lines were removed easily with a little water as the painting progressed.  She loosely painted in the still life using acrylic paint and then once this was dry she used oil paint on top to give more detail and a deeper saturation of colour. I loved her observation of reflective light bouncing colour from one object to another and also in the cast shadows.

Sonia answered lots of questions throughout the evening which gave a warm friendly atmosphere  as is usual for any Bafa event.  The evening was thoroughly entertaining and informative.

Written by Zoe Day, Photos by Emily Pool

 

Photos by Emily Pool

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