How to Plan and Create a PAINTING

Transcription

1 Level: Intermediate to Advanced Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 9.91 Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: Drawspace Curriculum 8.4.R3-8 Pages and 11 Illustrations How to Plan and Create a PAINTING Exploring the process of creating an original painting from inspiration to final details This resource has seven sections: The Inspiration Planning the Composition Sketching the Composition Preparing the Ground Blocking the Color Where to Begin Saving the Best for Last Planning and creating a painting can be daunting especially large and/or complex paintings. As a visual artist, you can approach a painting in many different ways. This tutorial is designed to provide you with insights into one of the more popular ways to plan a painting. So, follow along as I explain the process used to create this painting titled Sunday Stroll (Figure 1 on the next page). The Inspiration The idea for this painting came from a chance encounter while resting my feet after hours of walking through the spectacular gardens at the Palace of Versaille in France. Tip! Refer to lesson 8.4.R2 What Made You Think of That? for more information on fi nding inspiration for your paintings. As an Aside The painting in this lesson is done with oil paint on canvas, but acrylics work equally as well. Oils and acrylics have different characteristics that make for a different painting experience. It boils down to personal preference. I chose oils for this painting because I like the longer drying time, giving me the opportunity to mix the colors on the canvas for longer periods of time.

2 2 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting As I sat on a bench, watching the world go by, these two lovely ladies slowly made their way along the path. Figure 1: Sunday Stroll, oil on canvas, 40 by 30 in (101.5 by 76 cm) I loved how different they were from each other, and how their characters alone suggested a story. Without thinking, I quickly picked up my camera and snapped a quick photo (Figure 2). I thought nothing of it again, until a couple of weeks later, when I got around to downloading my photos onto my computer. Figure 2: Photo by Cailin Green There s nothing special about the photo itself. The composition is poor and there are many elements in the photo that do nothing to enhance the composition. However, the two ladies in the center still struck me as absolutely adorable and I had to paint them. I printed out the photo and left it where I would see it often for the next few days and let the idea evolve until I was ready to paint. Challenge! Compare the painting in Figure 1 with the photo in Figure 2 to see how many differences you can find.

3 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting 3 Planning the Composition The photo I had taken at Versailles was the only reference I had for this painting. As with so many tourist sites around the world, it is very difficult to take a photo without other tourists milling about and getting into your shot. Because I wanted the focus to be purely on the ladies, I chose to take out anything that detracted from that focus. That meant removing the ballards and chains in the foreground, the other tourists, and just to keep a more peaceful, less cluttered feel to the painting, I also chose to remove the small, sculpted bushes in the background. The balance also needed to be adjusted. Generally, it is more visually interesting to have the main subject to the left or right of center (there are exceptions to this rule!). For my composition, I chose to place the ladies to the left of centre and further away from the viewer, allowing for more space in the direction they seem to be walking. Doing so helps to enhance the illusion of space and direction within the painting. Of course, moving the ladies and the trees to the left meant that I would also need to fabricate some of the image to the right, since the area beyond the right-hand tree doesn t exist in the photo. It is also important to note that the photo was used as a reference only, and not something to make an exact copy of. For example, if you examine the tree to the left, you will see that it is very different in color, texture and angle. The tree in the photo leans to the left. I wanted to further emphasize the frailty of the lady with the cane, so I painted it straight and strong. Sketching the Composition For this painting, I chose to loosely sketch the elements onto the canvas itself so I could get a better sense of scale. This canvas is quite large: 40 by 30 in (101.5 by 76 cm). However, it works just as well to figure out your composition on a piece of paper and transfer it to canvas later. Figure 3 The purpose of drawing a sketch onto the canvas is to help map out areas of color, planes (background, midground and foreground) and sizes of elements and their relationship to each other. Although I used a pencil to create my sketch (Figure 3), many artists choose to sketch with a brush and a wash of paint most commonly with a sepia tone.

4 4 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting I began my sketch with the three most prominent elements in the composition the ladies, and the two large trees on either side of them. This established how big or large the ladies would be, how large the trees would be in relation to the ladies, and the balance of these elements in the overall composition. The rest falls in to place according to their relationship to these main elements. Preparing the Ground One way to add a warmth or coolness to a painting is by applying an undertone. For a warm glow, add a warm color such as sepia (a popular choice). For a cool glow, add a cool color such as blue. The undertone may be applied before or after your pencil sketch. If you use paint as your sketching medium, you most likely won t need an undertone. If you draw your sketch with paint, just choose a color that will enhance your painting. If you sketch in pencil before you apply the undertone, the paint must be diluted enough so that you can still see the pencil underneath. Figure 4 Applying the wash of paint over the pencil sketch also serves to seal the graphite, so that any paint applied over top will more effectively cover any pencil marks. There are no rules as to which warm or cool color you choose, and as you can see in Figure 4, I chose a brilliant and powerful yellow as my undertone for two reasons: My memories of Versailles are riddled with gilt gold. Even in the gardens, there were statues and fountains with accents of shiny gold. I wanted to somehow incorporate that rich golden image into this painting. It was a warm and pleasant fall day, and even though the ladies are wearing clothes for cooler weather, I hoped to convey some of this sunny warmth into the painting. The other tourists in the photo are wearing shorts (refer back to Figure 2)! However, if you are not used to working with an undertone, don t choose such a strong color as this to start out with, as the strength of this color can be very distracting and make it difficult to see the other colors properly. A wash of Raw Umber or Raw Sienna is most popular as an undertone for a warm influence, and a wash of blue most suited to your painting can be used for a cool influence. The color will show through in areas, unless you apply your paint very thick. (Refer to the path in Figure 11 on the last page to see how the yellow shows through in places.)

5 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting 5 Blocking the Color Figure 5 The next step is to block large areas of color which helps give a better sense of how light or dark the different areas should be. It also helps to reveal where there may be any problem areas that need adjusting. Blocking is most often done with washes of color as close to, or similar to, the intended final color. Blocking is not a necessary step, but is certainly a helpful one. It is a great way to fearlessly dive in and start painting, knowing that you will be painting over top and adjusting as you go along. When blocking color, it is always best to establish where the dark areas are first and their intensity. Figure 6 In Figure 6, you can see where the darker areas of the trees in the background, foreground and the large area of the path have been blocked. Blocking helped me to see that the background needed to be less intense if I wanted to give the painting a greater sense of depth. Figure 7 Once the dark areas are blocked, color is added to the lighter areas and the focal point of the ladies (Figure 7). When the areas surrounding the main subject (the ladies) has been established, it becomes much easier to work out how light or dark, or how intense, the subject should be.

6 6 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting Where to Begin Figure 8 Everything I ve done, up to this point, is in preparation for the final stages of the painting. Very little guesswork is left, and everything is clearly mapped out, with most of the problem areas identified. So, what part of the painting do I paint first? It is usually best to start with the background and move your way forward. In Figure 8, you can see that the trees in the background have been painted first. It is much easier to overlap the objects in the foreground over the background, when the background has already been painted. It is far more difficult to paint the background after you paint the objects in the foreground and still have the depth in your painting be believable. The tiniest amount of background paint overlapping the objects in the foreground is noticed by your eye, even if it is subconscious, and the object no longer appears to be in the foreground. Once the small tree trunks, the grass and the pond was painted, I then painted the two large tree trunks in the midground (Figure 9). As I worked, I continued to adjust the foliage of all the trees. Figure 9 I also chose to make the water in the pond blue, rather than the murky green it was in reality.

7 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting 7 Blue water is a reflection of a blue sunny sky and and I thought it better related to the sunny fall day. Once the trees, the path and the path edges were complete, I was free to focus on the main subject the ladies. Saving the Best for Last With their environment (background) firmly established, the ladies can lovingly be integrated into the setting that was painted just for them. Figure 10 Greater attention to detail in this area helps to attract more visual focus, as does the intensity of their colors in relation to their surroundings. There is no question as to whether or not they belong in this painting. Everything about them works well with the environment in which they have been placed. If they had been painted first, it would have been more difficult to integrate them into their setting. The final details, which really speak to the characters of these two ladies, are the cane and the handbag (Figure 10). The little red handbag is a lovely accent to all the lush green and yellow of the park. The stark, straight, and slightly angled line of the cane is a wonderful contrast to the the strong, vertical tree trunks. Even the sturdy trees seem to accentuate the frailty of the ladies. Tip! Take breaks often! It is important to walk away for a few minutes and come back to your painting with fresh eyes. You will always see something that you didn t see when you were caught up in what you were focussing on. Also remember to step back often and view your painting from a distance. Problem areas will jump out at you in a way they can t when you are close to the painting.

8 8 8.4.R3: How to Plan and Create a Painting Figure 11 To learn more about the artist s work, visit: Facebook: Cailin Green Artist To learn about the artist s music, visit: Campbell + Green channel