The ART of THICK PAINT

22. Drawing

In the next phase you assign a value to each of your puzzle-piece silhouettes (referred to in other chapters as value zones). The flat ground plane will probably be nearest to a middle value so you might want to add this value first. If you are outside you can easily use the nine value grayscale to get an accurate reading. Quickly sketch in a value to represent this plane (cheek it against your grayscale). Next you might add value to the tree silhouettes. This will usually be quite dark. Again using the value finder will ensure accuracy. Feel fee to use the grayscale but remember that it is value relationships, not necessarily accurate literal values that will make for an intriguing painting. As you become more experienced as you experiment with values you will know when to conform to literal values and when to diverge.

Once you have the basic interlocking silhouettes with the values roughly added you can add a few details and soften a few edges. Accentuating value contrast, emphasizing where a light and dark zone meet, can also be a way to improve your composition (or how the eye moves through your scene). These points of contrast should form a planned hierarchy describing how the eye moves through a scene.

DRAWING WITH RHYTHM

People occasionally remark that my paintings have a rhythm they find appealing. When I consider my best paintings I agree with them. The question is how do you find and emphasize a sense of rhythm?

About 15 years ago a fellow artist introduced me to the Reilly Method, a way of drawing devised by Frank Reilly of the New York Art Students League. The method requires the artist to find connections between major forms in the figure. If you enjoy incorporating the figure into your work but haven't studied this method I highly recommend it. It is one of the best ways to get energy and motion into a static anatomy drawing. But what if we applied Reilly's methods to the landscape?

One of the first things you realize is that applying this method to the landscape requires drawing outside the picture plane (to imagine the lines of rhythm beyond the confines of the canvas). Which means you have to sketch on a very large pad of paper. In the center of this page draw the boundaries of your sketch (sometimes I will trace my canvas on the sketch pad if size allows). I then begin to tentatively form the basic composition. Try to imagine these initial lines extending off and circling back into the composition of the sketch. The basic idea is to find, or invent, a logical and organic connection between every major line in the composition. Sometimes you have to use large, wide ovals. It's not always possible but trying can be a very illuminating way to find harmonious lines of energy.

I don't do this with every sketch. In fact, once you've done this a few dozen times you can mentally connect the lines and there isn't any need to draw on a huge pad. When you're out in the field you can draw in the air and connect the lines with large swooping motions. This can give a certain grace to your strokes, help you to paint from the shoulder (which is helpful to get large, bold shapes), and give bystanders something to remember you by.

This broad method can be applied not only to the entire painting but to individual aspects of the landscape such as trees, mountains, and rivers, any aspect of your painting that needs a feeling of rhythm and internal harmony.

RESPECT THE LINE

When I suggest adding color with gusto I do not mean you should be sloppy. You need to respect the lines surrounding each value zone. Remember that lines are simply boundaries. Boundaries can be created by lines as in Van Gogh's painting where he often outlined shapes with dark paint. A line can be a series of dots or dashes if they create a boundary. In most cases a line is a boundary where two different values, colors, or areas of contrasting saturation meet. Generally, it is wise to keep these boundaries sharp and not allow them to blur. The palette knife will help you keep edges discrete and distinct. It is easy to blur edges with a brush and hard to get them to sharpen up again which is why I suggest using a palette knife at the beginning phase of a plein air painting. The size of knife depends on the size of the canvas. Generally when painting with a knife you can paint a larger canvas than with a brush. An 11" x 14" canvas is a good size for a plein air sketch. When you feel comfortable with 11" x 14" move up to 16" x 20" (which is my favorite plein air format). Another great quality about the knife is it is easy to scrape off paint and start over. If you are scraping just a section of a painting a good tool is a generic paint scrapper, the kind that looks like a rectangular knife with a flat, blunt end. Hold the scrapper perpendicular to the canvas and scrap, cleaning the blade periodical so you don't get a large buildup of paint at the edge. I often place these scrapings to the side of my palette. Such scrapings can make a great base for subsequent mixtures. Use your value finder to determine the value of the scrapings and use it as an admixture for the next attempt at painting that area. As the mixing process continues you will develop more and more complex and beautiful color (as long as you add new color and don't over mix). If the value is correct you can add the scraped colors to whatever value zone you want. Reusing paint is also a method I use to stay calm. Recycling paint throughout various parts of your composition means a mistake is longer a mistake but Preparation for a new phase of painting. Additionally, having the proper tools to scrape the canvas with precision, leaving well painted areas intact, is a great confidence booster as well.

I read that Norman Rockwell was secretly critical of a fellow painter for putting small dabs of paint on his palette. Rockwell felt that if the painter had been more generous with paint he would have been a better painter. After reading this account I immediately began placing huge mounds of paint on my palette. While I don't think you should be stingy with paint the exact amount is a personal matter. Follow Rockwell's suggestion and err on the side of generosity. In time you will know how much paint you will need. I throw out a lot of paint and I think that is typical of most painters. The main thing is you should be thinking about the colors on your canvas, not how much each tube costs and how to minimize waste. Generally speaking, at the end of your painting session you will have plenty of paint left over that will end up in the waste bin. Consider it the price of your education.