Be the Tiger Woods of Painting !

 

Hearing the news accounts of last weekend’s action at the US Open golf tournament, I began to speculate on the remarkable abilities of golfer Tiger Woods. I related these thoughts to an article on memory that I read recently in Smithsonian magazine. In it, the authorities stated that your “how to” memory is stored in a different location in the brain from short- or long-term memory. All of my conclusions are purely my own and may not hold up to informed scrutiny, but I’m not one to immediately disqualify an opinion just because it’s made by a non-expert.

 

Woods’ familiar story relates how he began swinging a golf club as a very young child, just when, I’m told, that neural pathways are connecting. If something interferes with the properly timed connect-up of those pathways, like psychological trauma or illness, the opportunity is lost forever. The unfortunate individual may have to search out another way of accomplishing the skill or task for which he was meant to use that synapse or, perhaps, will never master it. Probably, he will be unaware of “something missing” other than a vague consciousness that X is more difficult for him than Y.

 

Conversely, it stands to reason, in my mind at least, that if the child, by luck or destiny, is motivated to practice a skill at precisely the time when his body is developing the miraculous, shining cobweb that links his body and his mind, extraordinary things can happen.

 

Applying these thoughts to the subject of art and making art, what would happen if a child were drawing – from direct observation, of course – when this miracle took place? Would he become a draftsman equal to Nicholi Fechin? If he were playing with color, would he equal Sergei Bongart? Are destinies such as these set that early in one’s life? If the moment is missed, is the opportunity lost forever?

 

Hopefully not. Accounts of stunning recoveries of brain-injured patients abound and credit is given to retraining the brain to use a detour. Though not always as easy or graceful as the original method, the magnificent human brain is able to accommodate in incredible ways. From motor skills to cognitive operations, patients who are determined enough and receive informed assistance will improve. Some will reach performance levels with imperceptible signs of impairment.

 

How does this apply to being an artist? Unless your parents were extraordinarily perceptive and caught the first faint sign of Picasso-like qualities in their little darling, they did not strap a vine charcoal to your chubby little hand and let you loose on the nursery walls. Instead, you may have dreamed of that 64-color crayon box, but just couldn’t get it across to your parents that it was essential for developing the sensitivities necessary for your desired vocation. I suspect, and all I read confirms it, that Tiger Woods and his family were the exceptions, and that’s what has made him so exceptional.

 

But if we were like most, we were occupied with pulling girls pigtails or telling on our siblings rather than spending precious hours with pencil and paper, connecting those all-important synapses as required at the precise and singular moment. Most of us fall into the mildly brain-deficient category, and there is blessed comfort in the thought that we, like the patients I described, can make up for lost time by our own dedication and effort and with the direction from those more skilled.

 

Keep the faith!

"Near Arroyo Hondo" - Oil - 12" x 16" - $260

"Arroyo Hondo is one of the breathtaking, gorgeous areas near Taos, New Mexico. For this work I used reference photos taken along the road to the arroyo and a unique approach. In addition, I studied works by Nicholi Fechin, the extraordinary Russian Impressionist who lived in Taos during some of his most productive years. " --- SFG

Work in progress:

These are the two photos that I'm using to design the composite image. I'm using the bluff behind the dark trees in the photo on the right and the tree on the right edge of the left-hand photo.



With the drawing, you see careful placement of the bluff, the shape of the tree on the right which is a strong element that balances the lights of the bluff, differing shapes of the trees on the left, as well as the trees on top of the bluff. I'm using an area to lead the eye in, but it won't be as obvious as a path.

For the sake of study, I will be pre-mixing my colors.The colors on the left side of my palette are my usual colors plus raw sienna, which I added this time because the subject includes buff-colored rocks. Raw sienna will help me get the dark values of those rocks. The rest of my colors are:
Daniel Smith Mixed White
Utretcht Cadmium Yellow Light
Utretcht Yellow Ochre
Utretcht Cadmium Red Light
Grumbacher Thalo Red Rose
Utrecht Alizarin Crimson
Windsor Newton Magenta
Utrecht Cobalt Blue
Utrecht Cerulean Blue
Daniel Smith Thalo Turquoise
Grumbacher Ivory Black



These are my pre-mixed colors. They will serve as the basis of the colors that I use in the painting. I have mixed several values and several temperatures of greens, purples, yellow-oranges, and even the sky and cloud colors. I'll be able to dip into this range of colors and massage them one way or another until they hit the color I really want. Again, this is for sake of study. It is not my usual procedure.



I want the foreground to be a little darker than background cliffs and foliage so I will be holding onto those darks in the foreground.



I've started laying in the rocks in the bluff, just color patches, seeking out the value differences I want in the painting.



I have the canvas covered and what I have is a mess! I've laid down a lot of different colors in pretty heavy quantities. I have several choices. I can scrape areas. I can simplify areas. Or, I can continue to work wet-into-wet. I will just see what works. I'm playing with the paint and enjoying it.



I'm mixing more exact colors from the original pre-mixed ones.

As I proceded, I scraped a bit, but mostly worked wet-into-wet, even when the goal was to simplify an area. In other sections, I added interest by drawing new shapes of different values and temperatures. Deep-toned calligraphy added the brush and trunks and limbs to the trees.

I had a great deal of fun with this painting... experimenting with different strokes, laying down the paint in different ways, even pushing the brushstroke up into heavy paint to get an effect. You'll find a wide variety of shapes and strokes in this spontaneous, experimental work.

In the end, I have a painting that has a nice quantity of paint, great paint quality, a variety of strokes, and a fine distribution of dark accents. The sunlight on the bluff is believable and effective. Even the signature and the dash I put under my name figure into the overall composition and movement.

"High Sierra Meadow" - Oil - 11" x 14" - $195

"In the clear, cool air in the Sierras, the rhythm of the trees and well-traveled path made this scene an inviting subject." --- SFG

Work in progress -- Feel free to send your questions and comments.

Here's a simple landscape using the rules of perspective and value. I'll make it interesting by creating shapes that please the eye. I'm painting in my studio from a photo I took several years ago.

To begin the drawing, I started with the horizon line high on the canvas to divide the picture plane into unequal spaces. Quickly, I shaped the main trees, the mountain contours, and the curves of the path.



Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting described the four main planes in landscapes, each a different value. Normally, they are, from lightest to darkest, the sky, the ground, the mountains or hills, and the trees. For this work, I'll generally stick to these rules, but I often vary them to create drama or emphasis. At least, if you know the rule, you have a yardstick by which to check your work. See my reading list for the book.

Since the trees are usually the darkest plane because the light hitting them from above is the most indirect, I made sure they were darkest and varied in shape and size. The distant tree masses against the peaks are cooled and lightened, because the light from them passes through more air and the color is effected by that aireal perspective.



Here, I've described the mountains, sky, snow, and path. The snow and the pathway are exceptions to the values rules, as they often are. Buildings can be, too. Once the canvas is covered, the middle stage of the painting is a matter of correcting color and value. This should get the most attention.



In the finished painting, I lightened the mountains a bit but didn't jump from the proper value relationship. Where the air is more moisture and particle laden, the mountains would be lighter, but the clear air at the altitude of this scene tends to reduce, but not eliminate, the effect. Last, I added the calligraphy that describes the brush and the path-side banks.

"Sacramento River Shine" - Oil - 24" x 30" - $1800

"The Sacramento River, running through Redding, CA, defines this 'river city.' Looking west, the afternoon light has a special drama. I'm glad that I chose a large foremat for this spectacular scene." --- SFG

Work in progress --- Please send your questions and comments!

As I started drawing with my usual directional lines, I set the horizon high on the canvas to describe the spread of the river plane before me. At the bottom right, the shapes of the shrubs lead the eye to back up to the bridge and the light beyond it. The zigzag- lines on the left are to signify the reflected light off the water that is the most eye-catching element of the painting. This shape must be in perspective, too, and will lead the eye from the top again, completing a cycle through the work.



The first darks show how effective the directional planning is. Note the gap on the left side of the middle line of dark. Without it, the viewer's eye would find it hard to pass into the background.

I wish I had taken this photograph just before I put in the highest plane of the trees in the distance. At first, all the planes were the same value and it was very flat. There was no feeling of aerial perspective at all. As soon as I cooled the tops of the trees and laid in the far bank of the river, it began to fall into place. Keep those edges in the background soft!



There's no harm in putting in some of the lights at this stage to help you decide what your value range will be. Here I put in the sky to help me judge the other lights in the painting. It will guide me when I determine the value of the water, the value of the light on the water, and the value of the gravel bars in the both foreground and middle ground.



As I continue to lay in areas and adjust the values, I keep checking to see that each dark is on the proper plane in respect to the others. Nothing should jump too far forward from its location in perspective, nor should it lay back too much.



I had anticipated having a problem and was watching for it. The gravel bar in the foreground was too light. I darkened the middle ground gravel bar, so it reads correctly and won't be mistaken for water.

After I took this photo, I finally switched to a smaller brush right after the entire canvas was covered. I had used a 12, and now I'm going to use an 8.



The artist must find a balance between too frequent repetition that's boring and repetition to create a rhythm through the scene. I must make choices as I return to each area. One choice might be to simplify the area. Or one could be to put more interest in another area, thereby subordinating the first. Said differently, you can change the area that doesn't fit or you can change another area so the original one fits.

As I work through an area of color, I try to make each area interesting while maintaining the overall value of the area. When creating interest, you follow the same principle you follow as you design your painting. Consider direction, value, shapes, variety, and so on.



Here I finally laid in the lightest values that were the reflections on the water. As you can tell by this commentary, I concentrated on controlling the values throughout the painting so that this lightest value can still have some color in it. It paid off.

Second painting session:



When I leave an unfinished painting, I have several choices. I can return soon (I make sure the studio stays very cool) and scrape any undesirable areas and then rework wet into almost-as-wet. Alternately, I can let the painting dry completely. When I return, I sand off any hard ridges or artful globs of paint that would interfere with applications of the next layer of paint.

You'll see here that I've scraped some of the light areas that I was not happy with. By the time I returned to the work, the paint was a little "chewy" and would not have worked as wet-into-wet. Since I was satisfied with most other areas, I scraped and knocked off the tops of these strokes so they would not interfere with new applications.

Remember, the quickest way to learn is from someone else's mistakes! You don't have enough time in your lifetime to make them all yourself.



As I finished this painting, I concentrated on keeping the edges soft, even the edges of the reflected light. I added interest in the brush of the foreground so that the foreground and background would be balanced. Also, I darkened the right side of the bank of the shoal in the middle ground. Just the last few tweaks....