Extremely instructive post. A very strong argument for painting outdoors, especially to mix colors true to nature. Here is my lingering question. At what point in this process do you compose the painting. By compose I mean work out the placement of the objects, the lighting, the values? If this composition process does not occur then you are painting exactly what you see. But I do not think you do that!
I'll answer this based on the idea that your intention is to say "one thing" in a legible way, not a rambling abstraction of thought. I say that because I read and hear about artists who insist on Not having a direction when they start. They prefer to let the forces of creativity guide them in the painting process. I'm fine with that, but that's not how I approach painting.
So... Composing the painting begins as soon as you decide "what" you're going to paint. I mean, what is it you want to say, why are you there painting? Why did you set up your easel at that spot? If you don't know these simple first steps, then you will have a hard time composing a painting of any meaning at all. Knowing those 'whys and whats' are the guides to how to compose the elements, to chose the color palette, to treat the edge relationships, to weight the masses of the composition, where to place an area of focus or a focal point. How to guide the viewer into, through and around the painting. Once you decide on and know all of that, you can begin to paint. Values, lighting, weight of the masses, direction of line, color harmonies... can all be thought about before you first touch a brush to the painting's surface. Sometimes what you thought in the beginning ends up needing adjusting, so it's not written in stone. But it's like someone telling you to take a certain road to a destination but your never having seen a map of the area.
Once you see a map, even if a detour or two show up along the way, it's much easier to get there. Cheers!
Yessss! It would be great if with each work of finished art you wrote about what drew you to the composition in the first place. Why you painted it. What it means to you as the artist. Well, one might say don’t do that because the work may evoke something completely different in a viewer. And by exposing what motivated you to paint it you have biased the viewer in some way. I do not care. For the next painting I produce I am going to write something explaining my connection to the work, why I chose to paint it. It might be revealing (!! ??). Of course I think we paint our own personalities!!
Hey Susan. After trying about 8 different brands, slow dry and heavy body, I’ve settled in on Golden Heavy Body acrylics. There are others perfectly fine, Utrecht, Sennelier, WN and more. But I like how Golden HB works for me. Yes I use some mediums, but mostly try to just paint with the paint out of the tube. The gels, regular, heavy, extra heavy, matte medium and satin or gloss glazing medium… all great tools.
No workshops planned. This might be an outlet for teaching some in the future. But for now, just painting.
Another thing I’ve learned, try to use them without watering down. Straight out of the tube keeps the texture, color strength and lack of value shift at its best. And it’s the slowest drying way to use them
I have a new puppy in my life so for awhile I am reading more than painting , so your new forum is perfect timing. Thank you for always helping your students near and far. Although I only experience my greens in the summertime or late spring this is valuable information to me. I see this growing into an intuitive and interesting virtual place of learning for me. Thank you Marc.
I saw your new puppy Donna! So is that two now? I'm very happy to hear that people have enjoyed this so far... hope to keep it that way. :) You know exactly what I'm talking about in the post about spring and summer greens. Hey, went ice skating in January, and a hockey game last week! ;-)
I'm sorry... I didn't realize that you lost Dynasty. Your new puppy looks adorable. ❤️
We did go ice skating, but indoors of course. It was nice to be back on the ice. We have an ECHL team here, The Savannah Ghost Pirates, so they built an arena and offer public skating, hockey leagues, etc.. Pretty cool.
This substack is going to be an interesting ride for me as I rarely if ever paint from life. Reality in the moment overwhelms me— your comment that you should know why you are painting first sounds masterful, (I envy you!) but I rarely know until after the struggle. I like paintings that are excavations of risk and revealed process. That said there is always an unconscious first “glimpse” I’m trying to get back to/uncover.
So glad you are doing this form of blog! And I second Golden. I am crazy for their Open Acrylics. I’m always looking for ways to knock back the sense of a plastic film (ugh, matte medium has never really done much for me) but when I get back to my easel for a new round of work I am thinking of mixing in marble dust. Not sure how that will effect the drying and adhesion of Open Acrylics.
My thought process is, of course, only one way, well really it's just my way, to approach painting. And I approach it that way whether from life, or in the studio. Although I find myself more and more starting paintings in a more random way in the studio these days. I suppose it's because I have the time to work things out, unlike in the field where time is of the essence?
I have no idea what goes through other painters minds as they think about painting, and paint. That is the beautiful thing about it though. Everyone comes from within themselves. The person who's question I answered, has been a student in the past so I sort of knew where she was coming from, and had an idea of what I needed to communicate to her.
I'll be honest, I wish I could approach painting from a more 'discoverable' direction. I may have a more organized beginning than what you describe as how you work, but I still feel those same overwhelming moments in all but the closing of the painting. Even though every single painting is a discovery for me, I come from a more literal background in my art. Studying illustration, being an illustrator for a time, the training was about directness, direction and getting to a specific point. Seems for me, that once I cut my teeth in that way, it's been hard to move away from it. Considering what I did for the first 25 years of my life as a painter, I've come a long way in that regard, but am still pretty darn traditional. My painting instructor in art school was Dan McCaw. When he was teaching us he was a pretty traditional (damn good & magnificent) painter. If you know his work now, you know that he's evolved into a masterful expressionist. His work has taken a course into personal expression that I never would have guessed back then, that it would. Except, that was the kind of thinking, serious painter/instructor he was in class. So maybe not a surprise? https://www.instagram.com/danmccawfineart/?hl=en
I think that we would do the most for ourselves if we just listened to what works. If academic painting is a goal, that's one thing. If letting the freedom of not knowing what is going to happen from one moment to the next, and moving with what happens, is how one finds their creativity, that's a completely valid and legitimate practice. That's the beauty of what we do.
Thanks for the comments about my paintings! In Motion is an oil, and Silhouetted is an acrylic.
You might want to try one of Golden's mediums with something like marble dust in it already. I think they make something like that. I say that because I do know that if you upset the ratio of wet to dry too much, you can create adhesion and permanence issues, even with acrylics, which seem indestructible mostly.
I used Open Acrylics for quite a few years, although oil was still my primary medium, those acrylics gave me a little latitude as I began to paint more with acrylic in general. I've come to the place where "fast dry" can't be fast enough! The Open acrylics weren't doing it for me so I made the shift over to the heavy body. I agree about the 'plastic' quality. I'm still struggling with that too but find that layers of gel mediums, usually satin, begin to build a nice depth to the surface. Semi-gloss glazing medium keeps a nice 'wet look' to the surface when that's what I'm looking for. The painting Silhouetted has a bunch of layers of mediums, thin, thick, mostly matte, poured and brushed on. After a layer was dry, I'd over paint, then layer, then overpaint. I had read an article somewhere about a way to make acrylic look like encaustic. That spurred my interest so I was pretty experimental a year or so ago. Ironically, I was just talking to my partner the other day about how I seem to be getting more controlled with acrylic, not something I'm trying to do, but a resulting way of working. I think it's because a year or two ago when I really dove into acrylics with the intent to wrangle them... I couldn't control anything! That was an advantage because getting anything accomplished felt good. I may need to get back there some how?
Sorry I was trying to post a picture of my dog. I could not make it work. On another topic, I have years and years of goal training 8n my background. It would be impossible for me to start a painting and not know where I wanted it to be in the end. No meandering for me! But I admire others who can tolerate that. This blog is working fantastically.
Thank you! I agree with the others - you write beautifully! About the greens, I was in an online mentoring group during COVID and the artist talked about his Hallmark days and the 3 greens rule! As a newbie to plein air (almost 2 years now) I must say the problem for me is how to not put in 10 different greens (I’m exaggerating a bit) but you get the point). I admire how you simplify your value/color choices and I spend much time staring at your website. Right now, living in Florida, and trying to simplify a forest scene (for example) is a challenge. I do like to add a bit of the complementary color to my greens ( even if it is less than a pin prick’s amount in quantity) just to push things towards a gray (my personal choice). The paintings you posted are lovely; especially love the high key painting, In Motion.
I love the one called, "In Motion". I could look at that one all day!
Thanks D.W.! Probably my favorite weather on the marsh to see and paint. Much appreciated.
Love these emails! You’re a great writer.
Ha! Thanks Lucy. I wish my English and Creative Writing teachers in school would have thought that. Glad you're enjoying the posts.
Extremely instructive post. A very strong argument for painting outdoors, especially to mix colors true to nature. Here is my lingering question. At what point in this process do you compose the painting. By compose I mean work out the placement of the objects, the lighting, the values? If this composition process does not occur then you are painting exactly what you see. But I do not think you do that!
I'll answer this based on the idea that your intention is to say "one thing" in a legible way, not a rambling abstraction of thought. I say that because I read and hear about artists who insist on Not having a direction when they start. They prefer to let the forces of creativity guide them in the painting process. I'm fine with that, but that's not how I approach painting.
So... Composing the painting begins as soon as you decide "what" you're going to paint. I mean, what is it you want to say, why are you there painting? Why did you set up your easel at that spot? If you don't know these simple first steps, then you will have a hard time composing a painting of any meaning at all. Knowing those 'whys and whats' are the guides to how to compose the elements, to chose the color palette, to treat the edge relationships, to weight the masses of the composition, where to place an area of focus or a focal point. How to guide the viewer into, through and around the painting. Once you decide on and know all of that, you can begin to paint. Values, lighting, weight of the masses, direction of line, color harmonies... can all be thought about before you first touch a brush to the painting's surface. Sometimes what you thought in the beginning ends up needing adjusting, so it's not written in stone. But it's like someone telling you to take a certain road to a destination but your never having seen a map of the area.
Once you see a map, even if a detour or two show up along the way, it's much easier to get there. Cheers!
Yessss! It would be great if with each work of finished art you wrote about what drew you to the composition in the first place. Why you painted it. What it means to you as the artist. Well, one might say don’t do that because the work may evoke something completely different in a viewer. And by exposing what motivated you to paint it you have biased the viewer in some way. I do not care. For the next painting I produce I am going to write something explaining my connection to the work, why I chose to paint it. It might be revealing (!! ??). Of course I think we paint our own personalities!!
Your favorite brand of acrylics? Do you use any Medium? Are there any in person workshops coming up with you and Dottie?
Hey Susan. After trying about 8 different brands, slow dry and heavy body, I’ve settled in on Golden Heavy Body acrylics. There are others perfectly fine, Utrecht, Sennelier, WN and more. But I like how Golden HB works for me. Yes I use some mediums, but mostly try to just paint with the paint out of the tube. The gels, regular, heavy, extra heavy, matte medium and satin or gloss glazing medium… all great tools.
No workshops planned. This might be an outlet for teaching some in the future. But for now, just painting.
Thanks Marc. I ordered a basic set of Golden HB even though I have lots of different brands of acrylics!
Another thing I’ve learned, try to use them without watering down. Straight out of the tube keeps the texture, color strength and lack of value shift at its best. And it’s the slowest drying way to use them
without adding a retarder.
Good advice, to much water and you will have watercolors, only worse!
I have a new puppy in my life so for awhile I am reading more than painting , so your new forum is perfect timing. Thank you for always helping your students near and far. Although I only experience my greens in the summertime or late spring this is valuable information to me. I see this growing into an intuitive and interesting virtual place of learning for me. Thank you Marc.
I saw your new puppy Donna! So is that two now? I'm very happy to hear that people have enjoyed this so far... hope to keep it that way. :) You know exactly what I'm talking about in the post about spring and summer greens. Hey, went ice skating in January, and a hockey game last week! ;-)
I actually lost both my dogs in the last 4 years. Beginning a new dog dynasty. Well I know you were not ice skating in the south!
I'm sorry... I didn't realize that you lost Dynasty. Your new puppy looks adorable. ❤️
We did go ice skating, but indoors of course. It was nice to be back on the ice. We have an ECHL team here, The Savannah Ghost Pirates, so they built an arena and offer public skating, hockey leagues, etc.. Pretty cool.
This substack is going to be an interesting ride for me as I rarely if ever paint from life. Reality in the moment overwhelms me— your comment that you should know why you are painting first sounds masterful, (I envy you!) but I rarely know until after the struggle. I like paintings that are excavations of risk and revealed process. That said there is always an unconscious first “glimpse” I’m trying to get back to/uncover.
So glad you are doing this form of blog! And I second Golden. I am crazy for their Open Acrylics. I’m always looking for ways to knock back the sense of a plastic film (ugh, matte medium has never really done much for me) but when I get back to my easel for a new round of work I am thinking of mixing in marble dust. Not sure how that will effect the drying and adhesion of Open Acrylics.
I love In Motion and Sillhouette: Paintness.
My thought process is, of course, only one way, well really it's just my way, to approach painting. And I approach it that way whether from life, or in the studio. Although I find myself more and more starting paintings in a more random way in the studio these days. I suppose it's because I have the time to work things out, unlike in the field where time is of the essence?
I have no idea what goes through other painters minds as they think about painting, and paint. That is the beautiful thing about it though. Everyone comes from within themselves. The person who's question I answered, has been a student in the past so I sort of knew where she was coming from, and had an idea of what I needed to communicate to her.
I'll be honest, I wish I could approach painting from a more 'discoverable' direction. I may have a more organized beginning than what you describe as how you work, but I still feel those same overwhelming moments in all but the closing of the painting. Even though every single painting is a discovery for me, I come from a more literal background in my art. Studying illustration, being an illustrator for a time, the training was about directness, direction and getting to a specific point. Seems for me, that once I cut my teeth in that way, it's been hard to move away from it. Considering what I did for the first 25 years of my life as a painter, I've come a long way in that regard, but am still pretty darn traditional. My painting instructor in art school was Dan McCaw. When he was teaching us he was a pretty traditional (damn good & magnificent) painter. If you know his work now, you know that he's evolved into a masterful expressionist. His work has taken a course into personal expression that I never would have guessed back then, that it would. Except, that was the kind of thinking, serious painter/instructor he was in class. So maybe not a surprise? https://www.instagram.com/danmccawfineart/?hl=en
I think that we would do the most for ourselves if we just listened to what works. If academic painting is a goal, that's one thing. If letting the freedom of not knowing what is going to happen from one moment to the next, and moving with what happens, is how one finds their creativity, that's a completely valid and legitimate practice. That's the beauty of what we do.
Thanks for the comments about my paintings! In Motion is an oil, and Silhouetted is an acrylic.
You might want to try one of Golden's mediums with something like marble dust in it already. I think they make something like that. I say that because I do know that if you upset the ratio of wet to dry too much, you can create adhesion and permanence issues, even with acrylics, which seem indestructible mostly.
I used Open Acrylics for quite a few years, although oil was still my primary medium, those acrylics gave me a little latitude as I began to paint more with acrylic in general. I've come to the place where "fast dry" can't be fast enough! The Open acrylics weren't doing it for me so I made the shift over to the heavy body. I agree about the 'plastic' quality. I'm still struggling with that too but find that layers of gel mediums, usually satin, begin to build a nice depth to the surface. Semi-gloss glazing medium keeps a nice 'wet look' to the surface when that's what I'm looking for. The painting Silhouetted has a bunch of layers of mediums, thin, thick, mostly matte, poured and brushed on. After a layer was dry, I'd over paint, then layer, then overpaint. I had read an article somewhere about a way to make acrylic look like encaustic. That spurred my interest so I was pretty experimental a year or so ago. Ironically, I was just talking to my partner the other day about how I seem to be getting more controlled with acrylic, not something I'm trying to do, but a resulting way of working. I think it's because a year or two ago when I really dove into acrylics with the intent to wrangle them... I couldn't control anything! That was an advantage because getting anything accomplished felt good. I may need to get back there some how?
I love hearing about the layering of the mediums on that piece— no wonder it looks so rich. Thank you so much for your reply. Lots to think on🙂
Sorry I was trying to post a picture of my dog. I could not make it work. On another topic, I have years and years of goal training 8n my background. It would be impossible for me to start a painting and not know where I wanted it to be in the end. No meandering for me! But I admire others who can tolerate that. This blog is working fantastically.
Thank you! I agree with the others - you write beautifully! About the greens, I was in an online mentoring group during COVID and the artist talked about his Hallmark days and the 3 greens rule! As a newbie to plein air (almost 2 years now) I must say the problem for me is how to not put in 10 different greens (I’m exaggerating a bit) but you get the point). I admire how you simplify your value/color choices and I spend much time staring at your website. Right now, living in Florida, and trying to simplify a forest scene (for example) is a challenge. I do like to add a bit of the complementary color to my greens ( even if it is less than a pin prick’s amount in quantity) just to push things towards a gray (my personal choice). The paintings you posted are lovely; especially love the high key painting, In Motion.
Many thanks for sharing what you’re doing!