William Shepherd’s still life paintings are more than renditions of interesting objects placed in aesthetically pleasing compositions. They are tantalizing vignettes made even more compelling by the shadows Shepherd places so strategically in each setting.

William Shepherd (New Mexico)

Shadow Flight
Oil
50″ By 48″
This painting was a marathon. I believe it was Picasso who said, ‘Paintings aren’t finished, they are abandoned.’ Shadow Fight gave real meaning to those words. The two greatest difficulties were finding the subtle shades of color and density in the shadows, and finding just the right colors on the surface of the tray to give it the reflective vibrance I was looking for. A lot of experimenting and color experimentation was required to find the tray surface I wanted.

William Shepherd (New Mexico)

Santo Nino
Oil
33″ By 42″
This painting is a tribute to summer evenings. I wanted to create that quiet, magic end of the day moment, when the setting sun pushes its light through the day’s atmosphere and paints a rich, warm coat over everything it touches. The background shadows indicate the time of day and also add substance to the objects in the painting. The soft light emanating from the Santo Nino candle suggests a sense of time; the sun is setting, and the candle will soon be the only source of light.