Again, I’m being a bit lazy with these blog posts and I’m copying my notes during all the painting sessions for this painting here.
Jan 14
I want to focus on very exact drawing and painting in a classical style. To do this I’ve made the painting much larger than what I normally work with. I’ve used a whole sheet of Arches oil paper 12×16 inches.
I want the size so I can get in the details. I don’t want the fingers to be so tiny that I can’t focus on the tiny changes in the form.
I love this image and I want the subtle transitions of light all over the form. This whole first session is drawing. Taking my time and focusing to get it right. Tomorrow’s session will be the same.
Jan 15
I’m continuing on the drawing for this painting. I’m drawing lightly so that corrections can be done with darker graphite. I tested the accuracy of my drawing with photoshop before moving on. I’ve got the major structure of the figure down and I don’t want to get into the details if the major structure is wrong.
I’m happy it wasn’t too far off, just a few small corrections. I attribute this directly to taking my time on the first session and focusing.
Jan 16
Final corrections on the drawing today and I’m starting to paint. Years ago I painted without a block-in first. For this painting I’m going to do the same. Similar to how Richard Schmid would paint. Final strokes with every paint stroke. For me it will be as close to final as I can for each stroke.
Jan 17
I started painting today. Working slowly and with focus.
The center of focus in the painting is the hands so I began there. If I can get the hands, ear and face done well then this painting will be a success because the rest of the painting will be built up to support them.
I’m also thinking about the value in this painting. I don’t want to go anywhere near the extremes. I want to compress the value range so I stay away from the blackest black and the whitest white.
I could easily change the image in Photoshop so that the blacks are much lighter but I want to do this myself, in my brain. I want to create the translation myself. If I adjusted the photo then I would be using less of myself and more of the tool.
Notes while painting that I need to turn into videos
- To start focus on one thing don’t overwhelm my brain by thinking about the entire painting.
- Always think drawing when you’re painting am I placing this in the correct spot?
- Move slowly and get it right the first time so you don’t have to continually fix
- Use your value chart .paint on it!
- When mixing up more paint for an area or you are working on don worry about getting it exactly right get it close enough the subtle variation in value and saturation will add interest
- When working in a limited value range, you don’t have to check your mixtures all the time just on the initial pile and then periodically through your painting
- For the first strokes, don’t worry about getting the value, hue and saturation perfect right away. You’re understanding of the colors that you’re working with Will grow as you add other colors around on the campus. Because color is relative, it needs its surrounding colors in order to have true understanding.
- When you’re working from a photo and you’re actively changing it as you’re painting like in this instance with me changing the value range, I find my brain rebelling against most of the movements that I make through the painting. It’s yelling at me telling me that’s not right that’s not right it doesn’t look like the reference. You have to constantly push back on that.
- Shape your brush as you paint. You don’t have to use the brush in the same shape that it’s always in when it’s full of paint you can squish it around in different ways so that it makes different shapes. Use those shapes to get into smaller areas or make the edge sharp or make the edge soft. One brush can be five different brushes if you shape it.
- When working in a limited value range a temperature change can be just as effective as a value change to help broaden what you had to work with
- If it’s not bright enough, then what’s around it that needs to change to make it look brighter? If it’s not dark enough then what’s around it that needs to change to make it look darker?
- Win or learn mentality. Setup a feedback loop and never feel bad for a bad painting. Like driving a car, you know you’ll get better at it. We just have to go on this art journey in our car every day and get better at it. That “bad” painting is just another steop in the right direction.
Jan 20
I’m continuing to work through this painting today.
I noticed that the colors that I initially put on the neck were much too saturated after I put them down. I was thinking that the saturation would be higher but when compared to the rest of the paint I already put down it’s much too saturated.
I’m wondering now if I just gravitate to grays or if the reference is just very gray?
I’ve had this long standing theory that life is gray, for the most part. The majority of colors we see are closer to gray in life than we think. But I need to test this theory. I’ll work on that tomorrow.
Jan 21
Is most of life made up of grays?
I went through photoshop and did a lot of test with this painting and pictures that I took outside to see how much grays are in real life.
I’m surprised at how un-saturated all of life is. I’m wondering if for every painting I should start with a bunch of gray colors first then increase saturation only in areas where I want the viewer to have more focus.
Slowly working through this painting today, one step at a time.
Jan 22
I just wanted to paint today. Nothing much to add, just painting.
Except this. Haha!
Always try and get your art done as early in the day as you can. Or I should say, try and get your most important tasks done as early in the day as possible. This is when you have the most energy, focus and brain power.
Plus if you get your most important done early then the rest of the day it’s not in the back of your mind worrying you about when you’re going to make time for it.
Jan 23
I honestly don’t have much to add to today’s session. Maybe by the end of the painting session I’ll think of something.
Jan 24
As I look at this painting I wish that the surface was smoother. And I would like to see what the paint would look like if it was a bit more glossy and thick. The next painting I’m going to do I’m going to play with surfaces a bit more. Maybe an oil ground surface, different papers (yupo) and paint thicker.
