Visual arts are all about seeing. When you can see something you can pursue it: clumsily, haltingly, frustratingly perhaps. However, if you can’t see a glimmer of that thing, all the skills in the world are for naught. Michelangelo said “I saw an angel in the marble and set him free”. In this course I’ll cover  some sound painting skills as well as a few ideas about creativity and visualizing.

 

Winter 1946 by Andrew Wyeth

Maybe we’ve had enough of winter – however this could easily be our Canadian Spring!

Andrew Wyeth was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the 20th century, a realist, often termed a regionalist because his favorite subjects were the land and people around him. One of the best-known images is his painting, “Christina’s World“.

 

“Winter 1946” was completed 2 years prior. It actually shares the same visual concept with a high horizon and single figure in the foreground. In this way, Wyeth contrasts the singularity of the figure with distance, space and perhaps a sense of something outside the “world” of the painting itself – what’s over that hill? Why is the figure turning so? There’s clear movement in the figure, the topography, the farm tracks, the fence – all frozen in time and space. I think the reason that Andrew Wyeth is considered an American master, when you strip away the skill and subject matter, is that he had a wonderful eye for intriguing compositions.

The painting is almost entirely monochrome. There’s a little green in the grass, but not much. Everything is essentially in shades of gray. Not many, either, as there are perhaps 4 or 5 main value groups. In this, Andrew Wyeth builds his painting from strong values and this characteristic is of fundamental importance across all mediums. A quick search on Andrew Wyeth watercolours for example, will show the power of line, wash and form, all with colour used sparingly, if at all.

For this first week, we’ll take inspiration from Andrew Wyeth, focus on monochrome value studies and also practice some sound foundations.

Developing a single-pigment layout:

1 – Composition and Value Sketching

Whether you’re developing studies for use on a future painting project or a drawing for it’s own sake, composition and studies are an excellent way to frame your art endeavours. In the following video I review the process:

A composition sketch serves to organize the picture space, simplify forms, look at what’s important and (more importantly) what’s not: Invariably, photos have too much detail and picking out what is important is best done before you paint. Also, things may not be where you want them, so you can easily move stuff around. You can also easily check out different scenarios – perhaps that holiday shot should be cropped!

Some artists include values (that is, lights and darks) as part of a single preliminary sketch, however it’s a good plan to do another. The trick is to force the picture space into 3 values: light, mid-tone and dark…and be rigorous, no in-between values! This promotes confidence to then block in values in your painting and adjust for detail afterwards. Any evident value problems, perhaps a light form next to a light backdrop are fixed when you go through this process. Keep it simple – it works best like this and I’m sure you’d rather be painting!

Exercise

1. Sketch out a composition from the reference below or take an alternative reference from the Reference Gallery. Focus on the major forms, placement and balance. 
2. Now, freely interpret this as a value study. Make the primary focus the  lights, mid-tones and darks (3 zones).

 

2 – Painting using only one pigment (plus white) – Monochrome foundation painting

Following our sketches, I’m sure that we’re all ready to paint that image! In the following video I take the ideas from my initial sketches and develop a basic paint layout.

The initial foundation can be the most important stage of a painting. Foundation blocking can be completed in any (typically subdued) tone: blues, browns, greys and greens can all work. Each will assert a certain feel into the final work – sometimes dramatically so, where the foundation forms an integral part of the final image. A monochrome painting can be delightful in it’s own right!

Notes for Oil Painters

In oil, I would tackle the study in essentially the same way as in the video, the fundamental difference of course being that, whereas acrylics dry rapidly, with oil you have the opportunity to work with paint that remains wet: start with a thin “solventy” mix and save the more substantial, thicker paint until you have the image starting to form.

Here’s an oil painting website with good information: http://www.aristidesatelier.com/blog/wipeout-underpainting

Here are some ideas on getting started:

1. Use a big brush to start…keep using it until you find you need a little more detail.
2. Try the above wipe-out technique to establish lights. This is worth a go, for even acrylic painters can start this way – until the paint starts drying – then add white!
3. Acrylic painters will find that the paint dries a little darker than its wet effect.
4. Stand back from your work from time to time – many masterpieces look quite messy up close.
5. When in doubt, look to clarify or re-state those three or four value groupings!

Exercise

1. Develop a monochrome painting along the lines described using my reference above or one from the Reference Gallery
2. Start with blocking major forms and areas before developing details…you can of course add as much or a little as you like!