How to Judge Values for Painting and Drawing
August 28, 2008
Squinting at our subject seems rudimentary to some but it’s news to others. Nonetheless it is the most important tool we have when judging values (how relatively light or dark a specific shape is). The failure to use this tool is often prevalent amongst students who are new to my classes. I suspect this is because they have been working exclusively from photos. When working from life squinting is absolutely invaluable. When we squint at our we see less detail. Subtle variations in value even out. We are able to focus on the the big shapes and judge their relative values. Virtually all accomplished artists working from life employ this tool. I don’t know who started it but it”s not new. When students first try squinting it seems a bit odd to them. The usual comment is, “I’ll end up with crows feet!” They usually need frequent reminders to employ the technique. When they forget to squint students commonly overstate things like reflected lights. Once their new habit becomes second nature their work improves.
A fine point that I learned from North Carolina landscape painter Mary Erickson is: Never put anything in your painting that you can’t see while squinting. Often times details we can see with our eyes wide open actually serve to break up our forms when we put them in. Leaving them out if we can’t see them while squinting works better.
So don’t forget to squint, your viewers will thank you.
What Plein Air Painters Can Learn from Brett Favre?
August 17, 2008
Even if you are not a big sports fan you are probably aware that the name Brett Favre has dominated the airwaves in recent weeks. News of the NFL quarterbacks retirement, quest for reinstatement and subsequent trade to the New York Jets has been way, way, way overdone. Especially on ESPN’s Sportscenter show. I figured I might as well jump on the band wagon!
What does Brett Favre have to do with plein air painting? Plenty! Although I have no idea whether he knows there is such a thing or if he would even care. Here’s what I do know. The future Hall of Famer holds all time records in the following categories:
- Most consecutive starts for a quarterback
- Most pass attempts
- Most pass completions
- Most passing yards
- Most passing touchdowns
- Most interceptions
That’s right sport’s fans, Brett Favre has the most successes and the most failures, all time. I would also hazard a guess that Favre played when conditions were poor and he wasn’t feeling his best. Plein air painters can take a page from his playbook. In order to be a great painter, or at least the best we can be, we have to be out there on a persistent consistent basis. If we start the most paintings, we may complete the most paintings. We will definitely blow some but we will gain ground and we’ll certainly score some winners. We can benefit from the law of attrition.
Since I brought up ol’ “No. 4″ (for those of you in Rio Linda, that’s Favre’s jersey number), there is another point worth making. When his pass plays don’t work, Favre huddles with his troops and calls another play. He doesn’t spend alot of time analyzing his failures. He simply tries something else. Too often student painters labor over compositions that aren’t working. They think that every canvas has to be fixed. They take photos, go home and wrestle with them. There is a point where that is really counterproductive. I learned from Scott Christensen to get off of a composition as soon as I recognize that it isn’t working. It’s better to wipe out and start a new one. In fact some of my best work has come after wiping out, turning a little to my right or left and starting over.
So, practice continually, accumulate knowledge, study nature often and don’t be afraid to start over. You too belong in the hall of fame!
Acheive Your Own Painting Style!
August 5, 2008
It has been said that the fine art of oil painting involves finding good answers to difficult questions. In fact, the famous abstract colorist, Josef Albers said, “Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.” Many artists, apparently seeking a shortcut to the market, copy other artists answers without ever understanding the questions. These artists may sell paintings but fail to achieve their own style. Artists who understand the questions and supply their own answers discover their own voice and achieve their own style. Of course, this begs the question, “What are those difficult questions?”.
The critical questions of painting flow from the artist’s original inspiration. We should never start a painting without a clear visual concept or idea.” What is it that inspires us? Is it a certain type of light? A pattern of light and shadow? A specific set of shapes? A set of color relationships? Perhaps the effects of aerial perspective? The answer to this question should be purely visual. Your subject matter should be little more than a prop for your visual concept. If you are painting a still life and the big idea is “The ink well, the quill and the paper” maybe you missed the point. A better idea would be how the light plays across the interesting shape of the ink well, and the contrasting textures of the quill and paper!
Once clear about our “big idea” the difficult questions become more evident and we can focus our attention on gathering critical information. The critical information is found in the context of the five types of light (form). Those are: Light, Shadow, Mid-tone, Accents and Reflected Light. As we paint our Shapes, Values, Colors and Edges in that context all we have to do is answer these questions:
- Where are my darkest darks and lightest lights (accents)?
- What shape, value and color are they?
- How do my shadow shapes relate to the dark accents in terms of value and color?
- How about my mid-tones?
- How do the lights relate to the accents, shadows and mid-tones, with regard to value and color?
- Where are my reflected lights? How do their values and colors relate to the others?
- What about my hierarchy of edges? Where is the sharpest? Softest?
The answers to all of these questions are found in relationships. Positive or Negative, bigger or smaller (shapes)? Lighter or darker (values)? Warmer of cooler, saturated or neutral (color)? Lost or found, sharper or softer (edges)? Focus on relationships rather than objects and your own style will emerge as you answer these critical questions.
