In the course of painting you may get carried away with details and forget to see the image as a whole. Holding on to your subject can sometimes be as hard as finding the right subject in the first place! Be single minded and purposeful. Ask yourself, ‘What did I first notice when I was drawn to this scene?’, ‘What makes it exciting?’. Keep this initial inspiration in mind to prevent yourself from overworking the painting and losing your way.
Getting involved
We all have different passions and emotions. Do not be afraid to record visually the objects and incidents that provoke your interest. The seemingly obscure statements made by small details may be far more meaningful in the end than a fully composed view.
Through painting you become acquainted with your subject. After you have finished painting a landscape or interior, walk into it and enjoy the familiarity of it. Touch the tree you have lovingly painted for the last hour, handle the objects on which you bestowed your time. This intimacy is an added bonus that many painters forget to enjoy as they pack up their paints and walk away.
PROJECT
Training the eye
Training the eye to see does not happen overnight. Practise by observing and drawing shapes and distilling the elements of a subject to its essentials, using any medium you wish. Do not judge yourself on results – remember you are learning to see, not making paintings.
MATERIALS USED
acrylic
charcoal
watercolour
THE SPACES IN BETWEEN Pick a group of objects from the bathroom cupboard. Place the items in a line with gaps between them. Paint just the spaces in between and around the items. Be aware of the distances across each item to the next space. Aim to describe the items only by the spaces around them – and the items will appear as if by magic!
THE SPACES WITHIN Observe and draw the spaces inside cups and jugs and their handles. Draw the shape of the spaces rather than drawing the items or handles themselves. I have used charcoal and white acrylic on stained paper.
FINDING THE ESSENCE OF THE SUBJECT Find a picture of something that stirs your emotions. I chose a photograph of a father leaning down to his son; the guiding link of hands seemed to represent fatherhood. Draw the image onto your paper looking only at the subject and not down at the page. Use lines back and forth over areas until you feel you have familiarized yourself with the subject. Resist the temptation to look at your drawing. When you have finished you will probably be horrified at the muddle on the page, but now start again.
This time you can look at your drawing while you try in a few meaningful strokes to distil from the image the lines you think best describe its meaning.
postscript
Follow these exercises by drawing the spaces under chairs and tables, the intervals between tree trunks and spaces under tree canopies. Always check that the height, width and proportion of the space corresponds to what you see.
View from the London Eye (detail) 43 x 28 cm (17 x 11 in), acrylic on canvas
Discovering composition
‘The composition is the organized sum of the interior functions (expressions) of every part of the work.’
Kandinsky
Every picture has a boundary that is determined by the limits of the surface on which it is painted. The actual painting takes place within that perimeter, though it need not fill the area, and the effect of the painting may be to extend well beyond its outlines. Good composition is fundamental; it is inspired by the subject matter, but not ruled by it.
Naturally good compositions occur all around us, though they are not always readily apparent. Somewhere within the scene is the painting-in-waiting; and recognizing it and translating it onto paper is the art of composition. This simply means being aware of a workable set of shapes, lines, colours and tones that, grouped together, make an inspiring pattern on the picture surface.
Finding the painting
Obviously picturesque views would appear to make good paintings, and often there is a sense of obligation to paint them, but they may not immediately have what a painting needs to be interesting. The artist must therefore either jiggle the view around or perhaps take a small part of the view that provides a more satisfactory composition.
Readymade compositions
A satisfying, asymmetrical, but balanced, arrangement of elements usually ensures a successful composition. If the shapes, colours and tones are well arranged you will find it easier to make the painting work, but this does not mean that it has to be harmoniously balanced, or overly planned. Jarring or obscure arrangements make interesting compositions too. All you need is to recognize what will work on the two-dimensional picture plane.
The morning after the night before, 1. 1. 2000 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 in), watercolour and ink The composition is unbalanced, but the sentiment is strong and the sketch remains as a good New Year memory. Is that not a good enough reason for a painting?
The source
If you have control over the physical elements you are painting, as in a still life or portrait, you can move parts of the actual subject around until the whole arrangement pleases the eye. It is easier to glean your shapes, colours and tones direct from the source than to make wild guesses about what might look better.
In the landscape you cannot always find perfect compositions – few of us can move mountains! Sometimes you must sacrifice literal truth for pictorial success. Always remember the painting lives on independently of its source of inspiration. Even if your painting intends to be a truthful record of the view, you may have to make alterations to the composition; move trees closer together or leave out a few fields perhaps. Free yourself from the obligation to paint everything in front of you; that is not a recipe for success.
Sketching
Filling a sketchbook with ideas before embarking on a painting enables you to respond quickly to the inspiration of your subject and to find out what really interests you, without having to worry about planning your composition. These immediate unplanned images are often the most exhilarating work of an artist, and it is worth remembering that it is also possible to over-compose a painting to the point where predictability kills off its life. Pay heed to your sketchbook; it can teach you much about how you see and what excites you.
How to compose
To find the two-dimensional layout of the three-dimensional world look through a viewfinder. I often use my index fingers and thumbs to make a frame, but the best way is to hold two L-shaped pieces of card together. You can make any rectilinear shape to suit the view or the painting. As you look through the viewfinder move it around until you find the best layout within the rectangular space. Half close your eyes so that you can see tonal balance and relative shapes.
Transition