Framework 1 – At the Breakfast Table

This is a photographic recreation of ‘At the Breakfast Table’ by Kees Jansen. It was originally an oil painting made on canvas in 1922. To recreate the painting, I laid out a blue paper as background and placed a wooden table with a white kitchen towel. Jansen paints a loaf of bread along with a sharp knife, a block of butter and a berry jam so I placed all of these things strategically using the painting as reference. One of the main components of the still life painting is the creation of shadows due to the placement of each item. In a warmly lit room, I aimed a cool-toned white from the left towards the items producing shadows towards the right of each object accordingly.  However, it was difficult to get the shadows to be as strong as the painting and to have a similar depth in their shade. In terms of the painting, Jansen paints an ordinary and simple breakfast meal using three items and I aimed to recreate the simplicity of his work, yet also focusing on more intricate details such as shadows, depth in colour and textures.