Connecting with nature, experiencing the subtleties of ever-changing light, and sketching on location is the most efficient use of an artist's time when it comes to sheer growth. Every painting done outdoors will not be ready to frame, but it will be a great lesson.
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| Against the Wind, 12x9 local tone plein air sketch |
In this oil sketch, "Against the Wind," painted along the coast near Carmel, the light changed often. Fog rolled in and out, over and over again. My original visual statement seen here, was based on local tone.
As the sun cut through the fog, light and shadow patterns emerged. I quickly drew a pencil sketch in my sketchbook to remind myself of the changes. Again, this was an amazing use of my time. In only moments, I had experienced two huge lessons from nature. Either visual statement is true, but note that they are two completely different statements.
The first half of this video demonstrates how to use the sketch to complete a larger studio work with the same visual statement of three relative values (local tone). The end of the video shows how to totally change the piece to express light and shadow.
As an artist, you connect, learn, make choices, and occasionally hit a home run.
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| Tree Stand, 28x20, light and shadow studio painting |
9 comments:
Thanks for showing the process here. I like both versions of the painting!
Beautiful work, Lori. Thank you for posting!
Inspirational..... :)
Hi Lori and thanks so much for taking the time to create this video and share your process with us. As a plein air painter I can certainly appreciate what you articulated about not every painting is a keeper (and the pressure to make finished-saleable paintings on site).
I just wanted to ask if you could elaborate a bit on the difference between tonal and the light-shadow methods of painting? Wouldn't the 3-value tonal painting include light and shadow as well? I'm very curious to know more.
Thanks again for a great post!
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
In a local tone (or relative value) painting, there are three large value shapes. How they relate to one another is the whole story. Light and shadow paintings could have any number of value shapes, or just two, and what supersedes any other statement is the contrast between the light and the shadow. Quang Ho talks about the visual approaches and says that although you may have more than one in a single painting, there nee to be a clear statement, no confusion. It's a lot to try to explain in writing. Hope this helps.
Love it! I so agree with value of plein air painting not always being about the finished product. I tell people that all of the time. I learn so much from painting from life and feel that each time I do it, I grow as an artist. I might not paint something that will hang on a wall somewhere, but the lessons that the experience teaches me are invaluable to my growth as an artist. Thanks for all you do to help too!
Lori, thanks for taking the time to respond.
After reading a few things and rereading your response, I think I understand what you mean by tonal or value based painting- mostly as a clear and consistent method or approach in a painting versus others such as light and shadow, which I see now could potentially be a simplified approach in some ways (depending on the subject).
This definitely gives me a new and interesting input to think about while working. Thanks for this food for thought.
Kelly
Great post! I wish the shots were a little slower so I could study the changes a little better.
Very nice balance of cools and warms. Dynamic brush work too. Really enjoyed it.
Such gorgeous colors and feeling!
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