Sound Advice From Artist Harley Brown’s Column
September 22, 2008
I recently read a great comment attributed to Fred Fellows which appeared in Harley Brown’s column in the August/September 2008 issue of International Artist. I think it bears repeating especially if you missed it! “If we live by the photograph, we die by the photograph. We have to get out there and study the real world around us; we can’t get lazy, sitting in our studios and not draw and paint from nature. Yes, many of us work from photos but we have to nourish our artistic minds by working from Mother Nature. That makes the big difference.”
Virtually all of the accomplished artists I know or have met attribute their success to the regular practice of working from life. Those who use photos as reference material do so in conjunction with an intellectual library of knowledge gained working from life. Studio artists who have ventured outdoors will tell you it was the best decision they ever made for their art. Yet, in community art centers all around the country it is all too common to see instructors teaching classes where students work strictly from photos. It is my humble opinion that those instructors do there students a great disservice. Sadly, I suspect, some instructors view this practice as job security. It will take forever for those students to leave the nest but there love of art will keep them coming back year after year. They will rarely paint on there own because they haven’t received the necessary training.
If you are such a student artist do yourself a favor. Join a class where you paint from a still life or better yet, landscapes outdoors (plein air). Learn about John Singer Sargent’s Five Types of Light and John F. Carlson’s Four Value Planes. Realize that painting boils down to Shapes, Values, Colors, and Edges. This advice may not make you the next Jaoquin Sorolla but it will put you on a path of continual growth.
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.
Proceed with Purpose in Your Oil Paintings
July 7, 2008
Whether you paint portraits, landscapes or still life it is important to have a method of proceeding that maintains a sense of purpose and direction. Most, if not all, of the best artists do this in the context of the light which describes form. John Singer Sargent put forth five types of light:
- Light
- Midtone
- Shadow
- Accents
- Reflected Light
Some instructors separate shadow into two types: body shadow and cast shadow. Others may separate accents into two types: darks and hightlights. Whichever explanation you prefer the facts are virtually the same. I like Sargent’s for the purposes of discussion because his name carries an imprimatur which makes students want to listen.
I recently watched a Daniel Greene video entitled , Oil Portrait: Bernard, in which this brilliant artist makes a ritual out of working from shadow to light. After completing his drawing he emphasizes the dark accents, masses in the shadows, paints the midtones and then the lights. And that was just the first of three sittings. In the subsequent sittings he re-emphasizes the dark accents, masses the shadows and paints the midtones then lights, eventually working his way up to the light accents (highlights) and reflected lights. During the video Mr. Greene’s narration and procedure remain fully integrated with the type of light in which he is working.
In a video entitled Three Landscape Studies prominent landscape painter, Scott L. Christensen, makes it a point to emphasize Sargent’s Five Types of Light . Scott says that you are always painting in one of the five. He suggests that if you don’t know which one of the five you are working in your painting will suffer. He says you will end up dabbling on it in an effort to get it to go where you want and it usually won’t end up there.
This point couldn’t be truer if I had said it myself. Indeed, in teaching workshops and classes I witness that very phenomenon. Students lose their sense of direction in a painting and start daubing away aimlessly. As a result their work and their enjoyment suffers. As soon as they are reminded to focus on painting one of the five types of light their sense of purpose and direction returns.
So, from a fundamental standpoint, a good general procedure is to:
- State your dark accents.
- Mass in your shadows.
- Paint your midtones.
- Paint your lights.
- Paint your highlights and reflected lights.
Remember to keep your dark accents and shadows thin and transparent. Make your lights and hightlights thick and opaque. Try to stay aware of the five types of light. In so doing, you will have more successes and more fun painting.
Why Use A Limited Palette?
May 6, 2008
Recently, I have noticed that my use of a palette limited to
the three primary colors (red, yellow, blue) attracts a lot of
interest from experienced painters, students and collectors.
The idea seems bold and innovative but in fact it is not new.
Over 100 years ago, Swedish painter Anders Zorn used a
palette consisting of Red, Yellow Ochre, Black and White. Zorn
is still widely regarded as a genius. After seeing a Zorn
exhibition, modern landscape painter Scott Christensen was
inspired to recycle the idea. While attending Scott’s 10-Day
Intensive Workshop in 2007 I converted to using the limited
palette as well. Like Scott, I use ultramarine blue, permanent
bright red,cadmium yellow lemon plus titanium white.
The philosophy “less is more” definitely applies. Self-imposed
limitations such as this force the artist to rely more on his or
her creativity. Having fewer color options one can no longer
attempt to copy the subject tone for tone. Instead the painter
must focus on relationships. How warm or cool,light or dark,
intense or neutral, sharp or lost, is one passage compared
to the whole. The end result is not only a more advanced process
but stronger harmonies in the finished product.
Another benefit from being a practitioner of the limited palette is
that the artist learns to do with color what was once done with value.
Specifically, the depiction of light and shadow is better when the artist
focuses more on color temperature and less on how light or dark
each passage is. A medium value intense warm makes for a more
convincing depiction of light than a low intensity white.
Other practical reasons for switching to a limited palette include:
- Less stuff to carry into the field
- More room on your palette for mixing
- Shopping for supplies is made easier
In closing, it should be mentioned that it is not necessary to
become a 3 color purist. The key point to remember is
that viewers don’t want us to copy the world for them.
They want us to explain it. The constraints of a limited palette
force us to do just that. I often add viridian to help create more
variety in my greens. This seems to make sense since I live and work
in Florida. Other times I add a cool red such as Alizarin Permanent to
modify shadows and dark accents. Other artists use version of
the limited palette consisting of a warm and cool of each of the primaries.
When making the switch be prepared to struggle for about six
months. Growth without growing pains is probably not growth at all.
Below is an example of a painting done with the 3 color palette.
What are the 4 Basic Elements of Landscape Painting
May 2, 2008
What Are the Basic Elements of Landscape Painting?
The fine art of landscape painting, and any other genre, can be distilled down to 4 Basic Elements:
- Drawing
- Values
- Colors
- Edges
Each of these basics can be simply defined:
Drawing has to do with composition. It involves not only placement of your center of interest, but the overall design of your painting’s big shapes. By big shapes I mean the negative space around your center of interest as well as the overall shape of the foreground, middle ground and background. The painter should think in terms of masses. The use of line should be kept to a minimum.
Value means simply how light or dark one shape is relative to another. This involves squinting at your subject to see what is in the light and what is in the shadow. John F. Carlson, in his Guide to Landscape Painting, identified four basic value planes:
- Sky - lightest
- Ground plane - second lightest
- Sloped planes - third lightest
- Vertical planes - darkest
Regarding values John Singer Sargent referred to five types of light:
- light
- midtone
- shadow
- accents
- reflected light
Color has three main characteristics:
- hue
- saturation
- temperature
Hue, put simply, answers the question, “What color is it?”
Saturation has to do with intensity. Is the color muted and neutral or is it pure and clean.
Temperature is a relative concept. If we think of the traditional color wheel there are three primary and three secondary colors. The primaries are red, yellow and blue. They are primary because we can’t mix them from two other colors. The secondaries are orange, green and purple. They are secondary because we get them by mixing two primaries. It seems obvious that blue is the coolest of these. Indeed its neighbors on the color wheel, green and purple are cool because they contain blue. Opposite blue on the wheel is orange. Being opposite of blue, it stands to reason that, orange must be warmest.
Indeed, its neighbors on the color wheel, red and yellow, are relatively warm. Neither contains blue. The fact that we mix orange from two warms, proves it is the warmest.
Even with the myriad of tubed colors available to painters today it is still impossible to paint the complete spectrum of color which God used in creating the world around us. Because we can’t match our subject tone for tone we must learn to paint relationships. Is this passage warmer or cooler, more intense or neutral, than that passage?
Edges, often overlooked by painters and instructors are no less important. Edges are defined as the juncture between two masses. A painting can and should have sharp, soft and lost edges. Edges are a wonderful tool for controlling the viewers eye. We identify the hierarchy of edges within in our painting by squinting at our subject. The most interesting and sharpest edges should be near your center of interest.
Click here for more in depth discussion about these and other subjects related to the fine art of landscape painting.
Plein Air Paintings by Florida Gulf Coast artist Robert J. Simone
Robert Henri sez…
March 25, 2008
It is harder to see than it is to express. The whole value of art rests in the artist’s ability to see well into what is before him….If the eyes of a Rembrandt are upon the model she will rise in response and Rembrandt will draw what he sees, and it will be beautiful. Rembrandt was a man of great understanding. He had the rare power of seeing deep into the significance of things….A genius is one who can see. Others can often draw remarkably well. There kind of drawing, however, is not very difficult. They can change about. They can make their sight fit the easiest way for their drawing. As their seeing is not particular it does not matter. With the seer it is different. Nothing will do but the most precise statement. He must not only bend technique to his will, but he must invent technique that will especially fit his need. He is not one who floats affably in his culture. His the blazer of the road for what he has to bring. Those who get their technique first, expecting sight to come to them later, get a technique of a very ready- made order
