4 Reasons Why I Love to Demo

I had the opportunity of performing a landscape painting demo for a local art club this week. Last year I judged an art show for them, and they invited me back so I could share my thoughts and process regarding painting.

The demo was well attended and was full of enthusiastic kindred spirits.  I thoroughly enjoy the entire demo process because of a love of meeting new people, telling related stories, sharing what I've learned on my artistic journey thus far and because art is a somewhat private activity teaching and giving demos helps me connect with the creative community.

My subject was a location that I frequent that never falls short of being inspiring. I chose this particular scene because it had unusual shapes, appealing light/shadow patterns and excellent depth due to aerial perspective.

I worked from a photo displayed on a tablet beside my easel. Among the many points that I covered, I explained how and why I chose to redesign a landscape formatted image into a square format.

Given the brief demo time allotted, this painting remains in a "work-in-progress" status. You'll see this one again in a future post upon completion.

Below the Surface

In this scenario, the model was mostly in shadow with a rim-light effect on his right side. The drawing below illustrates a true to life interpretation of how the model appeared. 

At the end of the drawing session, I was satisfied with the drawing in regards to the proportions and likeness of the sitter. However, the shading was too dark and gloomy for my liking. 

Before

The model was excited to be our subject of the day and had a lively personality. I felt that my drawing wasn't reflecting this aspect of the sitter. 

After

The correction (shown above), was to invent a fill light on the shadow side to clean out the heavy mood created by the excessively dark values. A few minutes spent lifting out the darks with a kneaded eraser transformed this entire drawing.  

By doing so, I was able to describe the forms of the face much better than in the first rendition and more importantly reveal the upbeat character of the model. 

I did do some minor finishes on his left shirt collar and better indicating on his ear but for the most part, this was a value adjustment. 

So, which version is correct? I'd say they both are. The "Before" for its "This is how it looks" honesty and the "After" for going beyond surface effect to reveal the sitter's personality. 

Time to Reflect

Reflective light is light bouncing off one object or surface onto another. In this example, the sunlight is bouncing off the ground plane warming the shadows that face downward.

As the height of the cactus becomes too far away from the reflective light of the ground plane to reach there begins a shift from warm to cool in temperature within the shadow shape.

Soon, the cooler blues and blue-violets reflected from the sky above will influence the color temperatures within the shadows.

Title: Desert Texture
Painted on: Centurion Linen Painting Panel.
Medium: Oil
Dimensions: 12x12 inches.

New Beginnings

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"New Beginnings" was painted en plein air at the White Tank Mountains, Arizona. The warm glow of the morning light was the inspiration for this painting. Each layer of this scene helps support the overall mood.

The strategy for this piece was to work from background to foreground. Morning and late afternoon light change very quickly. Knowing this, start with the areas of the scene that will disappear in moments.

First, the sky is laid in followed by the mountains and hills.

Adding incremental amounts of detail and contrast to each layer. The values and color temperature of the background elements set the tone for the entire painting.

With the stage set, the cactus and foreground can be fully realized.

Title: New Beginnings

Painted on: Ampersand Gessobord

Medium: Acrylic

Dimensions: 8x8 inches

Status: Available

Wondering Eyes

Like it or not, we need to consider composition every time we begin a new painting. The composition is about arranging shapes in a pleasing manner within your picture.

Master artist: Edgar Payne wrote the book on composition called "Composition of Outdoor Painting." It's a must have book for any landscape painter. In it, he goes on to describe and illustrate 15 standard blueprints to build a composition. I won't list them all here but will point out how I incorporate his principals in my work.

A stable composition can engage a viewer, and a weak one won't demand any attention.  One can welcome a viewer into a painting, and another can become a road block or quick exit rushing them along to see someone else's work in a gallery.

The use of unequal distribution of shape and value are essential to creating interest. Strategic placement of brushwork, shapes, edges and contrast control how the viewer's eye travels within a design.

Dividing a space into thirds is an easy but efficient way of placing a center of interest/focal point. (Shown above).

The eye can bounce from one object to the next like a ball in a pinball machine. The goal is to design shapes that don't allow the viewer an easy exit. (Shown above).

To simplify, this can fall under Edgar Payne's "O" structure. (Shown above).

Title: Best Seats
Painted On: RayMar Archival Panel.
Medium: Artist Quality Oil.
Dimensions: 8x10 inches
Status: Available

What's your plan? Part 2

Picking up from last weeks post - Another popular method among plein air painters as well as studio artists is to develop the entire painting all at once. The artist tries to mix the best average value and color temperature for each shape in the scene then progresses onto giving each shape more recognizable three-dimensional forms. This method allows the artist to monitor the painting as a whole and can make mistakes easier to catch and correct early on.

The grisaille has been an approach that has stood up over the centuries. It allows the artist to fully separate value from color by first completing a painting in monotone. Typically, this tonal underpainting is left to dry fully. Then the addition of color is applied in opaque or transparent layers over the corresponding values already mapped out by the underpainting. This method does add one more step to the process and may not be the optimal choice in fleeting light situations.

Since there isn't a single best or any hard fast rules here, you can combine different approaches if you wish. The important thing is to have a plan before laying paint to canvas. Your strategy choice should reflect the working scenario presented and what makes sense to you at the time.  

Variety = Interest

Variety keeps the viewer's interest. In this 3-hour portrait study, I'm playing with that idea. Careful drawing is important to achieve a likeness regardless of subject. Once correct measurements have been noted it is then the relationships of value, color, edges and texture that can make a static object or pose more interesting and a subject in motion exceptional.

Close-up example of hard and soft edges. Values are organized by light, medium and dark shapes. There are temperature shifts of warms and cools within each value family. Thicker applications of light against thinly applied shadows.

Representational becomes more abstract the closer one gets to the painting.

Utilizing both brush and palette knife to break any monotony in the application of paint.

Challenge yourself to find new ways to create more interest in your paintings.

Title: Turquoise Shirt 

Painted on: Student grade canvas board

Medium: Oil

Dimensions: 9x12 inches

Status: Available

Composing the Urban Landscape

Occasionally, I like to challenge myself by entering plein air competitions. The painting above titled 'Northview' is a result of a local one-day event that was held in Glendale, AZ. Producing a frame ready painting within a restricted time limit is the actual challenge of these events. In this case a 16x20 inch in about a 3 hour period.

Naturally, the desert has been my main source of inspiration since relocating to the southwest. An urban setting like this was a nice change of pace and reminded me of subject matter that I would frequently paint out on the east coast.

What attracted me to this particular scene is the strong verticals of the lamppost, telephone poles and street sign. Making this an ideal reverse "L" compositional design. Example below:

The elbow of the reverse "L" creates a natural sweet spot to place the focal point. The dark patch of grass to the left of the white structure attracts more attention to the focal area by contrasting values; light against dark. The foreground shadow shapes and property walls create radiating lines pointing directly to the focal point. Example below:

Title: Northview
Painted on: Fredrix Archival Canvas Panel.
Medium: Artist quality oil.
Dimensions: 16x20 inches.
Status: Available.

How-To Get Good Fast

Beginning students often ask, "What is the one thing that I can do that will help me become a better painter?" At the risk of sounding like a wisecrack answer, I reply, "Paint!" Most beginning students rely on one class a week to advance their drawing or painting skills. That's simply not enough practice time.

Painting frequently is so important for artistic development. Someone coined it "brush mileage" but the idea is that by regularly painting (if not daily) will put your skills on the fast track. Regardless of your skill level, do the very best you can do every time you paint. What you choose as a subject isn't as important as putting the time to practice.

Above is a small sampling of my class demonstrations performed over the past few weeks. I give a 20-30 minute demo at the beginning of every class. These demos consist of a general topic for the day to get students in the mindset of painting. If requested, I may do smaller demos specific to what each student is working on during that class. It's not uncommon for me to paint 6-10 demos per week. You can see how mileage can add up quickly. These "speed painting" exercises are what I suggest and encourage my students to do.

Of course, not everyone's schedule will allow that kind of volume. However, dedicating any additional practice time outside of class will only benefit you.