Rushing Water

Rushing Water

6"x8" oil on panel $150
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Artist Note

When the guild classes were stopped 

in  March due to c-virus,

 I still owed the painters a lesson

so I gave some thought to what 

would be the most useful and guess what...

Absolutely...

Hands down...

THE Number one problem...

is watching artists

 trying to paint from a photo 

EXACTLY what  they see 

without doing a few 

The typical problems are 

VALUE

&

COMPOSITION

This is the original photo which I used for the painting.

As an Impressionist I had to add 

the colors I clearly remember seeing 

Water is full of colors

 in the sunshine and 

also reflects the sky. 

The dark values appear way too dark  

as we know shadows are transparent...

but notice how the tops of the rocks 

are not only competing with the value of the water

but tend to lead the eye out of the pic.

Below is how I check if the composition works.

I like to use 

"every quarter should be different" 

a very useful way to prevent matchy-matchy areas.

At the same time I mark off the center to help me 

remember to have a circle of the interest 

right in the middle. 

When I first became aware of art workshops 

in the 90's, I went to a 

few of the really good painters.

Ovanis Berbarian, for florals.

Dan Gerhart for figure.

Michael Lynch for landscapes.

plus

Richard Schmid, Burt Silverman - demos at ASL

They ALL said "paint what you SEE."

Trouble is... I didn't SEE what they did.

I had to learn.

But, hey, they too had to learn to "see."

I went back and found their early work 

and it was heartwarming to find

when they first started they made 

the same mistakes as all of us.

Time and learning are what make the difference.

Remember, shadows are transparent. 

If you are painting plein air 

you can see into the shadows very clearly

but a photo can make them way too dark.

Look above at original photo. 

I took this in Yellowstone

and I could see into those dark areas

and clearly "see' everything, 

all the bushes, stones and trees

surrounding this gushing stream. 

You cannot make any of those 

out in the photo

Sunsets are the worst offenders.

The ground is never as dark at sunset

as the photo makes them. 

I now take two pics - one of the sun setting 

and one of the ground. 

But logically, when you look how 

light the sky still is overhead, you know

it cannot be really dark on the ground.

The sky can look waaaay too dark 

in a poor photo. Usually it produces a

strong cyan blue - especially at the top, 

whereas it is actually

 more of a cobalt or ultramarine.

Take the photo to a window 

and look halfway up in the sky

to compare,

 and then down at the pic.

You will see it. 

The blue sky overhead is not what

you paint. 

Shadows are not the same gray 

over everything they travel.

A LIGHT COLOR IN SHADOW

BECOMES MORE OF A MIDDLE VALUE

A middle color value goes 

deeper in shadow BUT not as dark as

A DARK COLORS IN SHADOW 

The reverse is true in the light. 

BLACK MOVES TO A  MIDDLE VALUE

IN THE LIGHT and even lighter in some cases.

Remember the ABSENCE of light is the darkest

area. Underneath bushes, rocks or in still life 

it is the line you see under the object.

Strong sun bleaches out color.

If you cannot paint plein air

then the next best way is to paint from 

a monitor of some kind. 

Even then you sometimes have to lighten

the darks to see into them.

But if you have a stash of old pics

(like I do)

which inspire you to paint them 

then I hope these hints help.

If you are a decorative or abstract painter 

none of the above applies.

In my next post I will demo a abstract version.

Cheers everyone. Thank you for staying until the end.

Stay safe.