Monday, August 31, 2015

See a painting develop, step by step

People are curious. And we as artists like to see how it is done. That's a long way of saying that  I have been asked to share a step by step process of one of my plein air paintings. The other day when I was out painting I finally remembered to take a couple of photos along the way. So here we go.
Watercolor wash on Pastel Mat paper. Big shapes without clear edges- that's very important. I like to choose where my edges are later on in the painting. A sharp edge  within soft edges is a focal point.
Add pastel incrementally starting with your diva point.

Almost done. When I check back to my notan I see that a grouping of value masses has been disturbed. I alter that and finish. (see top)

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

notan and feeling



The camera does not give you what is important. How do you feel about the color. Let the notan set you free. What about that scene intrigues you. That and the notan will tell you what to do.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

seduction and the notan


Here is another notan and painting.
Don't get seduced by subject matter. The notan helps with this. It helps you find balance between darks and lights. It makes you change things that are there in order to find the balance. It helps you find the rhythm and the strength in that rhythm.
it helps you find the right shapes and that make your painting more powerful.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

the power of a notan/ light your painting on fire


Want to light your painting on fire?
 I am going to give you a tip- notan. Yes, I have been taught to do notans for a long time. (And you probably have too.) I have done them in a perfunctory manner, never really getting their full worth. The lightbulb finally turned on last week.
Let me step back a moment....   Once again I traveled to Washington State to paint. I am fortunate to spend a week painting with Richard McKinley each year. He is truly the best teacher/mentor I know. I feel as if it is my check-up with the doctor. I work as his coordinator/assistant. I get to paint each day, hang out with my friends and absorb his wisdom.
This year I (finally) understood the real reason for doing the notan.

Notan is the Japanese word that translates to mean- light and dark harmony. It refers to the arrangement of light and dark that serves as the foundation for composition. With a notan you find the essence of your painting in the design.

To explain, when I began I did a small pencil sketch (top sketch). That complete, I found the major design lines and then made two more sketches with just the lines. Next, on the middle sketch you see I translated the sketch into 4 values -white, medium gray, and small places of darkest dark. (I did an extra one on the side of that) On the bottom sketch I combined the two darkest values and made the design against the white. When I moved to the bottom sketch I saw the need to change some of the placement. Notan makes you look carefully at "what is important? "How do I make my rhythm within the colors and shapes?"

Doing this small addition to your painting set up can change your world!

In the painting above notice how the notan allowed me to alter color so easily. Once you know your value design you can make the painting work, even when you create major changes. This scene was all green.
Let the notan be your guide.
I will post a few of the paintings and their notans for the next few days and you will see what I mean.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

What can you get away with?

Same field. I must have ten already. This time I added the telephone poles just to play with their placement. Intentionally I placed one almost in the center, making a divide. It can be thrilling to see what you can get away with. It was my M.O. as a child and I guess i continue it still.

Monday, August 3, 2015

color relationships, distilled


 Two quickies from the same field. They are about the color relationships, distilled. That's all.