Introducing the course:

 

Week 1 – Composition & Value Sketching

 

There’s nothing quite like it – summer art – it’s a time to try something new, take time, relax and see what comes along. In this first session, I encourage you to do just that. I do have a couple of ideas to help structure your outside session, or perhaps you’re in the studio: still thinking about the outside or tackling that new figurative piece that you have not had time for. Create something and send me the results!

Taking in the scene

As you can see, I like to keep my outside kit very simple, I might well take a more complete kit than in the video however, and much depends on your medium of choice and painting style. If you’re new to plein-air work I suggest that you begin with materials with which you are familiar. There are plenty of new sensations and a certain familiarity with materials is not a bad idea, at least in the first instance. Plein-air is all about sensing the atmosphere; if, like me, you tend to include the proverbial kitchen sink, I recommend that you keep your kit simple and also suggest that you split your kit into  “Outside” and “Inside” parts. Be sure to check out some additional recommendations on the Plein-air Materials Page

Composition and Value Sketching

Whether you’re developing studies for use on a future painting project or a plein-air drawing for it’s own sake, composition and studies are an excellent way to frame your art endevours. 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. On your next plein-air expedition, sketch out a composition. 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).
3. Alternatively, take a reference of your choice or from the Reference Gallery and develop composition and value studies as above.

Drawing Tips

The main thing with drawing – all drawing, is to “draw what you see and not what you know”. This is not a new idea, of course. The expression “the more you look the more you see” contains the same essence. When we worry, judge and rush, we become distracted. In fact, when confronted with, or distracted by, just about any of the details of daily life, we stop truly seeing. With this in mind, taking in the scene “Plein-air” has to be good eh! Relax and slide into your art zone!

A few drawing tips that work well for me:

1. Rough in the large shapes early, as looking at shapes is key, not the detail within. Try not to think about what you’re seeing. We humans do enough thinking and it rarely helps really seeing what is out there.
2. Dive in with some potent  lights and darks – you can do this in either order – perhaps highlight with some white if the drawing is getting muddy, All scenes have a spread of light and dark – even if this might not look immediately evident.
3. Squint, take your glasses off, use sunglasses or look through a slightly frosted surface – all of these reduce detail;
4. Look at negative shapes – the shape behind the shape. There’s nothing negative about negative shapes, almost by definition the shape behind whatever you are drawing is abstract – it does not mean anything – and therein lies it’s power.
5. Draw corrected first shapes before erasing the old – this help make the change “stick” otherwise there is a tendency to repeat the same form (error) as prior. Perhaps exaggerate corrections, again this helps move the drawing along.
6. Look at your work in a mirror – you see things anew – an almost magical experience. Taking a break has somewhat the same effect – you come back and see things afresh!
7. Towards the completion of a drawing it’s always a good idea to add some emphasis, typically with line. This is often what separates a good drawing from something that really resonates. Restating lights and darks is often a good idea too.

Some of these are “Old Faithfuls” and I’ve added a couple that have become good habits for me. One is not to erase, at least until new marks are established: those old marks show you where not to draw and sometimes can be recycled for new purposes. A related habit is to exaggerate revisions. The point of both of these processes is that they help me not become “vested” in what I’ve already drawn, but to continue searching for what might be.

A starter-kit for your drawing toolbox!

Exercise

• Take one of your composition studies and referring to this and your value study develop a separate drawing or paint study, starting with the large forms, adding  lights and darks, detail and context that feels right to you, then finishing by adding emphasis with some additional weighting.