The Importance of Backgrounds
In my second year of art school back in 1978, we students were given the task of painting a still life of our choice. I chose to realistically paint my (then) boyfriend’s air rifle. It must have been the various textures which interested me; glossy wood and black metal. The object was displayed on my desk. I studied it over several days, meticulously rendering every detail in oil paint. It was only when I had finished painting the air rifle that I asked myself the question, “What shall I do about the background?”
At that point the painting was doomed. I had not planned the painting through to its conclusion at conception. I had only thought of the main subject in isolation without considering its immediate environment. When I tried to paint in the surroundings as an afterthought, everything fell to bits. It was a good lesson though – and 37 years later I remember it like yesterday: Don’t make the background an afterthought! - Julie Podstolski