"STARTS"
Some of my students have been asking how to paint in a more direct/ looser approach. I'd like to share some suggestions to help those who want to explore this approach to painting. I have recently been challenging myself to paint in a looser , more direct manner. Through simple value studies, notans and quick alla prima exercises, I am attempting to deal more directly with color relationships, rather than jump into rendering detail. As a realistic painter, it has been a work in progress to work in a more impressionistic manner, trying to capture light ,color and movement in my painting. Coming from a traditional "Trompe and portrait painter, it has been challenging and eye opening. As I work this way, I have come to better understand and appreciate the work of artist working in a style that was very foreign to me.
Today reminded me of how important “starts” are and how changing the way one starts a painting can lead one to perceive and work in a different manner.
In the past, I typically sketched out my paintings with a brush on toned canvas in a linear manner (using lines to indicate shapes and boundaries of tonal and color masses. Today I began painting by scrubbing in tones purely as shapes. This small change helped me see the scene as a series of relationships between color, value and shapes. I found that I didn’t feel so “locked in” to the design and was better able to move the color and shapes around in a more expressive way. This change in the way to begin a painting could help you work in a more painterly way.
Typical way to begin a painting with an emphasis on lines / borders.
Today's start was much different:
Today's start was created by "scrubbing" in broad rough areas of tone, relying on the relationship of shapes, rather than line.
As you can see in this detail image, the scene was created with large masses of color, rather than detailed and modeled form.
If you are struggling to work in a more painterly approach, try working with the biggest brushes you can manage (I used a house painter's brush for blocking in the largest shapes). Think in terms of shape and mass and allow the image to immerge from big shapes, rather than being rendered through lines, strict boundaries and tons of detail.
Happy Painting!
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