Sketching – Lee Muir-Haman Watercolor Painting

February 20, 2023

See And Think Like An Artist!

Many beginning painters believe that to produce a good painting, all they need is mastery of technique. However, it takes more than finely executed techniques to achieve an artistic result. Artists need to OBSERVE CLOSELY what they intend to paint. When you’re an artist, seeing isn’t simple.

Most of the time, we look at things with only part of our attention. We see only what we expect to see. We assign a verbal label to many images. For instance, if what we are looking at is a “tree,” we may not look closely at what is really there. We think we know what a tree looks like, because we’ve seen so many. This habit of not paying close attention saves time and keeps us moving along in our busy lives BUT prevents us from actually LOOKING at things. In the everyday world, we quickly categorize in words and move on.

However, to paint or draw successfully, artists need to slow down so they can examine and study the shapes and values that make up an observed scene. Artists try to avoid a verbal label for an object they may paint (such as as “tree,” “box,” “barn,” or “shoe”). Instead they train themselves to interpret what they see in a new, nonverbal way. SEEING means focusing attention, looking at form – shapes, values, and colors – before beginning to paint. Where is the light hitting the tree branches? Can you see through the branches? What is the overall shape of the tree? Are branches straight, upturned, crooked, rough? Is the tree lopsided or symmetrical? Are the highlights a different color from the shadows? What is the weather, and how does it affect the appearance of the vegetation? By asking such questions and looking carefully, you can start to accurately paint what you SEE, NOT what you THINK you see.

“End Of The Day” Watercolor Painting.

Learning to draw helps you see, and being able to see will help you draw. The perceptual skills and mental processes necessary for drawing are the same as those used when painting with a brush. In fact, artist Ian Roberts maintains that “The quickest way to improve your painting is to learn to draw.” Drawing trains the mind, hand, and eye to work together, without the distraction of color. Further, drawing shapes and values helps you notice and decide what information you will need in order to actually paint your image. If you can’t see important shapes and values, you won’t be able to draw or paint well.

Many beginning artists avoid drawing altogether if they can, feeling that their drawing skills are not good. (And they also may want to start painting right away, thinking that drawing is a distraction from the fun of painting.) However, you should not feel obliged to render precise drawings of what you wish to paint! Do not let your concerns about drawing technique prevent you from trying to draw what is before you!

One of the main purposes of drawing is to TRAIN yourself to see shapes and spaces more accurately – to “see” like an artist and take note of important details. By keeping your drawing SIMPLE, just getting something down relatively quickly, you can allow yourself to SEE. Look for BASIC SHAPES, and notice how they are connected. Find larger shapes first; then fit smaller shapes into them. More specifically, see the image as a whole; then concentrate on individual components. That is, move from general information to the more specific. Distracting details are only decoration on the surface of these shapes, like frosting on a cake.

“Winter Is Coming” Watercolor Painting.

Concentrate; work slowly and intently. Give yourself the time to observe and take in information before rushing to produce a finished image. Ultimately, you should be able to perceive everything you see as totally abstract forms, values, lines, and color, as in a jigsaw puzzle. Remember that shadows are shapes! Reflections are shapes as well. Backgrounds have shape and should act as frames for the subject of a painting. Only when you can “see” in this way will you begin to be able to create the appearance of three-dimensional reality on your flat, two-dimensional paper.

Frederick Franck, artist and philosopher, says in The Zen of Seeing/Drawing: “I have learned that what I have not drawn I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle . . . .” So do not hesitate to sketch and draw what you intend to paint. (Or even make a small sketch daily, drawing everyday things or imaginary scenes that might be totally unrelated to anything you want to paint.) As you draw, you will notice important details and sharpen the mind/hand/eye coordination necessary to improve your painting skills. Drawing is not something you can or cannot do; it is a skill that requires practice and time, just like any other ability (including painting). What matters is not the quality of each finished drawing, but the continued practice of close observation.

“Flowing Forward” Watercolor Painting

Another benefit of drawing and sketching, in addition to developing necessary observational and perceptual skills, is that you will automatically begin to condense observed information into a more SIMPLIFIED FORMAT, and this ability will come through in your painting. With a drawing you are more likely to end up with your focal point being prominent, because you concentrate mainly on that particular feature. Your drawing will be simpler, easier on the eye of the viewer, as you collect only the information that counts and leave out extraneous material.

Strive to “see” the world in terms of shape, pattern, color, line, and texture. Having observed carefully, take your time, and use the information to record what you see as skillfully as you can. As you go about your daily life, you may be surprised that you begin to see details that you never noticed before, that you look at the world around you differently. Mastering these skills will undoubtedly improve the quality of your painting. Your personal viewpoint or individual perception of the world will become more and more apparent as you interpret what you “see” and choose what to record and include in your drawing or painting.

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February 26, 2019January 16, 2020

Properly Using A Photograph As A Painting Reference.

Getting outdoors and painting directly from nature can be very enjoyable. You get a feel for your surroundings – colors, smells, temperature, atmosphere, light, and so on. Sometimes, however, you need more time to work on your painting than you have at the moment: the weather may not cooperate (it begins to rain, or the temperature dips below freezing), the light changes quickly (the sun goes down, or clouds emerge), or other circumstances change (the birds you are painting fly away, or ripples disturb the water). For these reasons, painting with the aid of photographs is often much more convenient and can increase the amount of time you can spend painting a scene.

Christmas tree truck photo references.

Dangers do emerge, however, when you are working from photographs, particularly if you use pictures taken by someone else. As an artist, you need to make sure that the photos on which you plan to base a painting are not copyrighted by the photographer. Photos do belong to the picture-taker. As a solution, you might ask the photographer for permission to use them. Also, you might try a Google search (“Advanced Image Search”) and look in the “Usage Rights” section for content labeled either “Creative Commons” or “Public Domain.” Alternatively, visit some internet sites that offer stock or copyright-free photos. (I will include a list of some of these sites in next week’s blog.)

TAKE YOUR OWN PHOTOS.

Taking your own reference photos, however, is an even better approach. You can think of your camera as a sketchbook, using it to compose pictures while you look through your viewfinder. Each picture will belong to you, whether you combine it with a similar shot, crop and simplify the image, or make color changes as you paint. Keep in mind, however, that photographs DO NOT reproduce an image in the same way that the eye sees it. The camera tends to lose details in shadows and overexpose bright spots. Photographs can also change actual colors in a scene and provide too much detail. While your photograph can provide some excellent information (for example, architectural details, lighting conditions, and color references), the camera is simply a TOOL like any other tool (like a paintbrush or painting paper), and your eye and judgment as an artist must guide the use of any such tool. Use photos not as ends in themselves but simply as sources of reference information.

Watercolor “Pepperell Relic”, with photo reference.

Sometimes when you focus a lot of energy on taking photos, you may not take the time you need to study your subject and look at it with careful attention. Sketching or drawing that subject, on the other hand, can force you to “see” what you are looking at, noticing the truly important information.

IMPROVE ON YOUR PHOTO REFERENCE.

Your goal should not be to paint an exact copy of any photograph; instead, you should simplify the scene. Your job is to improve on a photo, adding your own personality and flair, expressing your excitement or the mystery you feel when viewing that scene. What attracts you to the subject in the first place? Take time before painting to look at your photo and think about what you might want to change in it. Some elements in the photo might seem unnecessary or distracting. You might be able to improve the composition or color.

If someone tells you that your painting looks like a photograph, don’t take that statement as a compliment. The implication is that you have actually copied the photograph rather than using it for inspiration or information. Do not attempt to include every detail from a photo in your painting. Simplify; focus on your interpretation of the center of interest, and try to be creative.

You will get more out of your photographs if you use them as a starting point for your painting rather than as the desired end result. You will often need to make some changes from the photo to turn it into a good painting. The first type of editing of a photo is to make SIMPLE COSMETIC CHANGES while keeping the essential image intact, and many types of these cosmetic changes can improve your picture. For instance, your photo may show dull, boring clouds that need some added drama. You could also decide to reinterpret and brighten colors to produce an exciting or ominous mood. You could tilt or angle your image for a somewhat different point of view. Some artists who flip the image in the photo (as in a mirror) find that that change improves the way the viewer’s eye moves through the picture. One of the simplest changes to make is a change in season. Another cosmetic change you could make is altering the time of day (and thus the mood) by changing the light and altering shadows.

By manipulating values, detail, and the quality of colors, you could create a warm, sunny picture or a soft, foggy image . . . or anything in between. Similarly, you could add more shadows to add interest and visual pattern. If a photograph does not show enough value contrast, you can create that contrast; sometimes, by simply changing the light direction, you can lighten some areas and darken others. You can highlight important areas by making them light and by surrounding these light areas with dark colors (thereby increasing contrast around your center of interest). You don’t have to use the colors you see in a photograph; you can increase color harmony in your painting by limiting the number of colors you use. Alternatively, emphasize both warm and cool colors for contrast and interest. You could make some exciting variations of color in an area that is basically one color by mingling other colors to add life.

Watercolor “Maine coastline”, with photo reference.

Another type of edit to improve a photograph for painting is making a STRUCTURAL CHANGE to improve the composition and to build a picture that is more your own creation. You can make changes to what is in the photo and to where things are in your picture. First, evaluate your image to identify the most important object or the focus of attention. Notice the big SHAPES, major LINES, and VALUES. You’ll want to decide what to keep and what to eliminate from the photo. Don’t keep anything that is irrelevant. Keep in mind your knowledge of good composition (see my blog “Making a Strong Painting with Good Composition” from October 16, 2018, or review your favorite art books on the subject of composition and design).

Cropping a photo and zooming in for close-ups allow you to relocate the center of interest to a more dynamic position, thus improving your composition. You could also highlight your center of interest by changing your format or the orientation of your paper. For example, a landscape orientation may be appropriate for focusing on a farmstead with surrounding fields whereas a portrait orientation could highlight the magnificent tree in front of a farmhouse; on the other hand, a square format could work well with a flock of sheep grazing in a field, while an elongated format could effectively fit a vista of the mountains that provides the backdrop for the farmstead. Exaggerating some details or colors can also improve a composition. Similarly, you could change your point of view; try changing the level or angle from which you are viewing the subject, imagining, for instance, that you are looking down at the same scene from a plane flying overhead. If your photo has been taken from the shore of a lake, would the painting be more majestic if you imagined the lake viewed from the edge of a cliff above it? Use your imagination!

A third way of editing photographs for painting is making CREATIVE CHANGES; this technique can be quite dramatic. You can add elements that are not in the photo or combine parts of several photographs to create a new image. Birds from several photos can be put into one. Flowers can be rearranged. To a wintry field you can add skaters on an icy pond. You can paint two different types of images together, combining an image of a wilderness lake with the image of a map showing how to get there. The sizes of elements within a picture you can also alter; if the photo shows five trees of the same size, try making one the focus of attention by making it bigger while also varying the size and spacing of the others to support the dominance of the larger tree. You can overlap images, fading one out as it joins another, and, of course, you can even produce an image that is pure fantasy.

Watercolor “Mulpus”, with photo reference.

While you can paint from a photograph, painting on site is preferable because that way, you can view, experience, and even sketch the scene for yourself. Using other people’s photographs involves some dangers, particularly if you don’t have permission to use them. Furthermore, photos tend to distort and change some of the information they capture, in addition to including too much detail for a good composition. If you take your own photo, you can use it for lighting conditions, architectural details, and further inspiration. However, photographs can never tell you the full story, even though they can be helpful references. You can (and should) edit a photo to improve and simplify its image. Crop your photos, and combine them as needed to create effective, powerful paintings.

Photo reference for future watercolor.

December 18, 2018February 24, 2020

Painting Begins With Looking and Seeing…

Many inexperienced painters believe that to produce a good painting, all they need is mastery of technique. However, it takes more than finely executed techniques to achieve an artistic result. Artists need to observe closely what they intend to paint. When you’re an artist, seeing isn’t simple.

Most of the time, we look at things with only part of our attention. We see only what we expect to see. We assign a label to every image. For instance, if what we are looking at is a “tree,” we may not look closely at what is really there. This habit of not paying close attention keeps us from actually looking at things. In the everyday world, we quickly categorize and move on.

However, to paint or draw successfully, artists need to slow down so they can examine and study the shapes and values that make up an observed object. Artists try to avoid labeling an object as “tree” or anything else and instead train themselves to interpret what they see in a new way. Seeing means focusing attention, looking at shapes, values, and colors before beginning to paint. Where is the light hitting the tree branches? Can you see through the branches? What is the overall shape of the tree? Are branches straight, upturned, crooked, rough? Is the tree lopsided or symmetrical? Are the highlights a different color from the shadows? What is the weather, and how does it affect the appearance of the “tree”? By asking such questions and looking carefully, you can accurately paint what you see, NOT what you think you see.

Drawing helps you see, and seeing helps you draw. Drawing trains the mind, hand, and eye to work together. Many beginning artists avoid drawing altogether if they can, feeling that their drawing skills are not good. However, you should not feel obliged to render precise drawings of what you wish to paint! Do not let your concerns about drawing technique prevent you from trying to draw what is before you! One of the main purposes of drawing is to train yourself to see shapes and spaces more accurately – to “see” like an artist and take note of details. By keeping your drawing SIMPLE, just getting something down relatively quickly, you can allow yourself to see. Look for basic shapes, and notice how they are connected. Find larger shapes first; then fit smaller shapes into them. More specifically, see the image as a whole; then concentrate on individual components. Distracting details are only decoration on the surface of these shapes. Concentrate; work slowly and intently. Give yourself the time to observe and take in information before rushing to produce an image. Ultimately, you should be able to perceive everything you see as totally abstract forms, values, lines, and color, as in a jigsaw puzzle. Remember that shadows are shapes! Reflections are shapes as well. Backgrounds have shape and should act as frames for the subject of a painting. Only when you can “see” in this way will you begin to be able to suggest three-dimensional reality on your flat, two-dimensional paper.

Frederick Franck, artist and philosopher, says in The Zen of Seeing/Drawing: “I have learned that what I have not drawn I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle . . . .” So do not hesitate to sketch and draw what you intend to paint. As you draw, you will notice important details and sharpen the mind/hand/eye coordination necessary to improve your painting skills. Drawing is not something you can or cannot do; it is a skill that requires practice and time, just like any other ability (including painting). The skills and mental processes necessary for drawing are the same as those used when painting with a brush.

Another benefit of drawing and sketching, in addition to developing necessary observational skills, is that you will learn to condense observed information into a simplified format, and this ability will come through in your painting. With a drawing you are more likely to end up with your focal point being prominent, because you concentrate mainly on that particular feature. Your drawing will be simplified, easier on the eye of the viewer, as you collect only the information that counts and leave out extraneous material.

Reference photos:

Line drawing:

Strive to “see” the world in terms of shape, pattern, color, line, and texture. Having observed carefully, use the information to record an image skillfully. Mastering these techniques will improve the quality of your work. Your personal viewpoint or individual perception of the world will become apparent as you interpret what you “see” and choose what to record and include in your drawing or painting.

Your picture has your touch in it. You can pick a subject that appeals or has special meaning to you. You can rearrange what you’re looking at any way you like. You can simplify or exaggerate parts of what you see. Look beyond the normal, the everyday, the expected for your painting subjects. Notice the negative shapes, the rhythms, the reflected lights, the colors. Look at an object close up for a new viewpoint. Consider a portrait approach or botanical style. Look for varied shapes and unusual forms to add interest to your picture. Each person sees the world in a different way.