1. Okay, here is our subject, a still-life which you drew earlier in Lesson two.
|
2. With your colours carefully laid out on your pallet, begin by blocking in - Don't just work on one area, get that right and move on. When you come towards the end of the painting it'll probably not have an overall balance. I put a painting together as I would a jigsaw, moving from one area to another.
|
3. Backgrounds present a problem - They are often a necessary evil. This is because often we have to invent a background. Keep working, closing one eye and then standing back from your easel to appraise progress.
|
4. I'm now working on the foreground. As you can see, I'm still blocking in the painting. Later I will return to each area and re-work it to a more finished state.
|
5. Now I'm painting in the cup. Still closing one eye and standing back couple of paces. You are best painting at arm's length - And not as though writing a letter!
|
6. ...I'm still working all over the painting, except for the background, now to paint in the cup.
|
7. ...Now I'm working on the foreground...
|
8. The painting is now coming to completion. I like to work in a loose style, using brush strokes, thick and thin paint to turn an ordinary, if simple, subject into something interesting that will sit nicely on a wall.
|
When it comes to painting, learners have no particular style. A bit like learning to write, our style will change and develop. Painting is the same. When learners come to painting for the first time, their natural instinct is to try and produce a photographic image. This is because that is how we see the world - Clearly defined in photos, TV images, films, even the world around us. Everthing is sharply defined and photographic. But this isn't necessary the best way to portray what we see. Yes, artists do work in a highly photographic way (John Salt and Chuck Close). In fact, Close goes to enormous lengths to avoid painterly texture. That's fine because it's a conscious decision. With beginners, it's down to instinct.