| |
Community
Magazines
Book Clubs
Book Stores
|
|
 |
 |
| Your interactive artists' community |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Artists Network
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply.
|
|
| Author |
Messages |
|
Administrator
Posts:175
 |
| 04/08/2008 10:46 AM |
 Alert
|
I'm intriqued by the glowing report that Artist Network forums member mrking gives of her workshop experience (not to mention her after-workshop artwork). Have you found an art class or workshop to be particularly helpful in developing your artistic skill--or in encouraging you in other ways? Tell us about your experience--and maybe share some before and after art. Let us know what to look for (or avoid) when selecting a workshop.
|
|
|
|
1Painter42
Posts:156
|
| 04/08/2008 11:56 AM |
Alert
|
| This is a great subject. I'm taking a plein air pastel workshop in September. |
|
Justine
www.remingtoncreations.com |
|
pattrsnd
Posts:1
|
| 04/15/2008 6:47 PM |
Alert
|
I’ll do my best to try and summarize my notes on the
one day workshop that Richard McKinley gave on “Working with an
Underpainting.” If you have the chance to take a workshop from Richard,
you won’t regret it. Many artists are very talented, but many of those
same artists are not very good at teaching their technique. Richard
communicated his technique in a way that was easy to understand and
visualize. He also has a great sense of humor.
I hope you can learn something from this – I know I will be doing
underpaintings with my work from now on. It is such a big assist for
going from concept to completed painting.
The
surface he used was 12 x 18 Museum grade white Wallis. It was dry
mounted on 4-ply archival mat board. He taped the board to gatorfoam
board before placing it on his easel.
The
overall concept of your painting should be formulated in your planning
stages. While working either from Plein Air, or a photograph, he starts
out making thumbnail sketches on a drawing pad. This challenges him to
make choices before committing his concept to the final surface. He
does a minimum of 4 thumbnail sketches in deferent formats –
rectangular, square, 1 to 2 ratios, and a couple of sketches that move
the eye levels of the composition. To draw he uses a 2B Mirado Black
Warrior pencil – just because it sounds cool! (His words)
He said you do not have to be good at drawing, because you are
primarily just blocking in shapes and value areas. Do not be concerned
with minor details while you do the sketches. They shouldn’t take more
then a few quick minutes to do.
He
then creates a value map, massing in the darks, midtones and lights.
Doing this he can tell if the values are working with his original
concept.
He also does a small color sketch. This reinforces how the color masses in the composition relate.
Set
your eye level/angle of vision – you and the viewer always enter into a
painting in the middle (this does not mean the center). Remember if you
are using a photo for reference, and you crop that photo in PhotoShop,
the photo no longer has you standing in the middle, so all your angles
of vision, and sightlines are now incorrect. That is something I never
thought about. I’m going to be doing more plein air painting, so
hopefully that will no longer be a concern.
He
said that just because something is there, doesn’t mean you have to
include it in your painting. Going through these first steps, you’ll be
able to find out if you’re more mentally prepared to start the
painting. To me, these steps are a whole lot better then starting out
with a blank surface, with just the scene, or photograph, in front of
you.
Here is his photo reference - we were inside for this workshop.
The folowing photo shows the way has initial drawing on the Wallis:
His watercolor palate included
some Red, Yellow and Blue – Burnt Sienna, Paine’s Grey, Sap Green,
Ultramarine Blue, and Cadmium Yellow. He uses a 1” wide bristle brush.
You can expect the Wallis papers to eat up your brushes. Richard uses a
watercolor underpainting. He explained that
those who are concerned about their paintings becoming a "Mixed Media"
piece, that when watercolor paint dries, it becomes a hard cake of pure
pigment. You could actually pick up that pigment and paint with it on
Wallis just like pastel. What is pastel? PURE
PIGMENT! All you are doing is watering it down. Pastel dust, or light
applications of pastels, could be used the same way - it's just easier
to use watercolors for the underpaintings.
Remember there is "dry out" when using watercolors,
and they will dry a much lighter color then what they looked like when
first applied.
When doing
the underpainting, be careful not to think of it as a final painting.
Always ask yourself – “What do I see myself doing with the pastels?”
Think transparent/layers/soft – Paint cool to warm for instant depth.
Be
aware of one light, and the temperature of that light. Remember that it
is light falling on form, and line does not exist in nature, so it
shouldn’t exist in your paintings. Edges are different then “lines”.
Do
your shadow masses first. Start with the darkest mass, not small
accents. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being black, the darkest mass
(not detail) should be a 3. 6 ½ should be the middle of your value
scale. Value masses are NOT accents. Remember that natural illumination
creates a higher value scale in landscapes. Some of your accents can be
below “3” on the scale, but never your masses. Drift other colors over
your shadow masses, scrubbing your edges out.
Be aware of Simultaneous Contrast – This refers to
the manner in which the colors of two different objects affect each
other. The effect is more noticeable when shared between objects of
complimentary colors. Warm over cool looks warmer.
Before
you start to use your pastels, you can always come back into the
watercolor and sketch some of your elements back in with pencil.
Have
an area of interest. Have a warm foreground, and transition to a cool
background. He starts with the shadows, and then migrates towards the
lights. Always be aware of your neutral colors in your palate – they
are too important not to use. They may not look that great sitting
alone in your box, but place them in your painting, and they can really
complement many of your colors.
Richard
uses a wide variety of soft pastels. He usually starts off with
Giraults for his first layers, and also for additional blocking in of
areas over his watercolor underpainting. I think he said he also uses a
lot of Terry Ludwig, Mount Vision, and Schmincke pastels.
He
likes to start in his area of interest, and then sets up what he calls
“bookends”. Bookends are setting up different color notes throughout
the painting. He likes to do different bits and pieces of the painting
– not completing any one area before moving on. That way he says you
get an overall feeling of what direction the completed painting is
going. He kept saying that the three most
important parts of your painting are Simultaneous Contrast, Aerial
Perspective, and Refraction. Refraction = your final highlights.
Go from Temperature – Value – then Edge
Here is his wonderful working pastel box - notice he has a seperate
area to the right where he puts his neutral colors - the ones he says
most artists don't use. He says using them correctly can really make
your painting "pop".
Before he does the final highlights
(Refraction), he frames in his painting with black archival masking
tape. He said there is something about the black that helps you
identify the areas that need the highlights. It really does look
different then the white taped composition.
That is where he left off - he said he probably wouldn't do much more
to it. All this was done in about 3 hours - while teaching! Notice how
he leaves quite a bit of the watercolor showing - he doesn't always
cover up the whole painting with pastel.
I've been told I should show what I did in
the couple of hours of the workshop. It's not finished. And I realize
that I need to work on the aerial perspective by lightening the
mountains. I also need to change the peaks of one, and I have not done
many accents. You can still see much of the watercolor underpainting.
This is my photo reference. You can see how I lost my distance, because
the darkness of the moutains really threw off the airial perspective I
tried to get.
I'm trying to include my
finished painting, but I'm having trouble loading it. The
finished painting is in my pastel painting area on my website -
photosandfineart.com
I hope you all took away something from this...I sure learned quite a bit! |
|
|
|
Administrator
Posts:175
|
| 04/18/2008 3:05 PM |
Alert
|
Wow, pttrsnd, thanks for the full report, complete with step-by-step photos. Sounds as if you had a great time.
I'm sorry you're having trouble loading your own art. If you can describe the problem, we might be able to help you.
Holly
Forum Admin
|
|
|
|
|
| You are not authorized to post a reply. |
|
|
|
ActiveForums 3.6
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|