Keys to success in Painting
These
are keys not laws. There are always exceptions. However, I have
found these principles useful. Feel free to offer feedback.
1.
General to Specific. Focus on capturing the big shapes of value and color across the
entire image versus getting to specific or detailed oriented early on. Keep in
mind the hierarchy of illusion (drawing>value>color>edge). I believe
that the painting actually starts once I have paint on the entire panel. You
can end up wasting a tremendous amount of time getting too detailed on one
section too early (often small sections painted in isolation may need to be
moved or altered once the rest of the image is painted.)
2.
Blurry/Soft to Sharp. I like to think of the entire painting coming into focus with
each subsequent layer of paint. Once the paint is dry, It is far
easier to make a blurry edge sharp than a sharp line blurry. Remember curved
volumes (spheres, eggs, cylinders, balls etc) will always have an edge that is
a little soft. Also, it is nearly impossible to blend an edge if both paints
are not wet.
3.
Paint Shapes not Objects. Paint shapes of color and value; don’t name the object that you
are painting. I encourage you to look for shapes within objects versus creating
an edge around an object and filling in. Often times edges of objects may
“disappear” entirely or shadow areas on object may meld into the cast shadow.
Do not paint edges that don’t exist. If you are naming/painting objects you are
more likely to be painting symbols and less likely to look at the larger
relationships within the painting.
4.
Fast to Slow. That is the pace of the painting. The initial block in is to
establish 1. The Drawing 2. Value structure. 3. Possible hints at color. This
should be a relatively quick process but no a careless one. I usually do this
with a larger bright and spend plenty of time stepping back and squinting my
eyes to see if I am matching the bigger shapes in the composition.
5.
Back to Front. Try to think about the objects 3 dimensionally especially on
the second and 3rd Within the object paint back
to front. I always paint the edge of the background at the same time as I paint
the object and work from the edge inwards. This allows for me to keep my edges
soft and encourages me to paint “through the object” .
6.
Dark to Light. In oil paint it is a more instinctive and easier to paint light
over dark. In conjunction with painting back to front, I will paint the dark
outer edge of an object slowly moving toward the highlight last. It is a normal
beginner mistake to go too light too early, then ask if there is any “super
white” for your highlights because the “regular white just isn’t showing up.
7.
Cool to Warm. Cool colors recede into space and are often found in the
background and shadow areas of the paintings in your darks. Warm colors move
forward in space. Each color has a warm and cool version. For instance Alizarin
Crimson is a cool red and would be found in the shadow side of a red ball and
would transition into Cadmium Red which is a warm area which would surround the
area around the bounce light (highlight)
This pertains to painting with a warm light. It would be the opposite, painting with a
cool north light.
8.
Paint with your body first…fingers last. In the beginning, stand
back from the painting, and hold the brush at the far end, painting with your
arm and body. As the painting progresses, you may need to get closer to your
painting and paint more with a “handwriting” grip using your wrist. This
encourages the paintings in the beginning to be general, fast, blurry and
focused on big shapes not objects.
9.
Paint Fat over Lean. Fat over lean means that each succeeding layer of paint should
have more ‘fat – oil’ than the preceding layer. If you are painting in an
indirect method (working in layers rather than all in one go – alla prima) you
need to adhere to this rule to prevent cracking.
10.
Enjoy. Try to be excited with what you are doing . . . Creativity
happens when you make something exciting out of something boring.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1534685746572114&set=a.1019270771446950.1073741845.100000921106887&type=3&theater
free video by Bill Inman.
http://www.masteroilpainting.com/colormastery-2
March 17, 2017
Great article on GREEN
http://media2.fwpublications.com/TAM/GoingGreen_June17TheArtistsMagazine.pdf?utm_source=artistsnetwork.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=arn-cja-bl-170317
If you are interested in applying your canvas to a substraight, you may want to try Miracle Muck.
http://raphaelsap.com/miracle-muck/
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