PREPLANNING FOR PAINTING

It is not always easy to find the discipline to pre-plan a painting....but it can pay off.

The Yellow Umbrella, Galle Market, Sri Lanka

You have various choices;  we have discussed this before, I know, but it never hurts to go over things more than once, and this suggestion is slightly different.

"Thumbnail sketches"..........when I was teaching and I said these words,I often saw glum faces around the room.  Some people did not seem to mind, but others just loathed the whole idea, they simply wanted, quite clearly, to GET ON with the painting, and doing a bit of initial drawing to get the subject onto the surface seemed quite enough to them.

Well -nobody can force you to do thumbnail sketches, I can only advise how useful they are,  they make you think more about the subsequent image, and work a few things out in your mind.

Going back to my students..........what I would usually find is that most people would simply plot their image, using outlines only - into their sketchbook, within a rectangle they had drawn.  But a line drawing gives you no idea at all about the overall tonal look of your painting-to-be.  Which area will be dark, which will be light, and how these areas will balance each other and relate to each other.  Where edges could be softened and tones linked to make a bigger, stronger shape;  where and how the eye will travel.

Scribbling away, even with a 4 or 6 B pencil, can take time, and often, can be unsatisfying, since bits of the white paper will still show through the scribbled tonal areas.  I would spot people just putting in a bit of random scribble, not even bothering to complete the shape,  and when I asked what they were doing, they said "oh, that bit just needs to be dark, this is just to remind me".

A thumbnail like this is really pretty useless

Now - here is another option. Why not work on TONED PAPER to begin with, using charcoal, and a bit of white chalk or conte.  Instantly, you can see where your light shapes will be, and your darkest tones, and those in between are "done" for you - it is really a great way to preplan. You can immediately see the balance of light and dark areas of the painting, and you will begin to get a sense of whether you need to make changes here and there.   Here is a tonal sketch I did for my Yellow Umbrella painting at the top of this post.  You can see how strong a tonal image it gives, yet it really only took a few minutes to achieve - there is little in the way of detail.  It was about half the size of the finished painting.

If you haven't tried this method, do give it a go, it is extremely satisfying to see, instantly, how your painting is going to look, rather than staring rather blankly at a whole lot of outlines which do nothing more than position the subject matter on the paper.  That is, I can promise you, only a tiny part of the challenge you face.

Sorry to be brief ...I am rushing to complete work for Open Studio, and can only manage a shortish blog post today.  Hopefully someone might find it helpful!

GIVE IT A TITLE

Little story........ my grandmother many years ago joined a flower arranging class.  The tutor gave every participant a project for the following week, they had to create an arrangement, and give it a title. She arrived at the class, proudly bearing her arrangement, the tutor came along and said "and what do you call that?".  Very offended, my grandmother walked out of the class, thinking that the tutor had been saying "and what on earth do you call THAT."  (I hope you get the inflection in the voice).  She completely forgot that she had been asked to give the piece a title.    !!


This story takes me right back to my days of teaching, when I took groups of students to nice sunshine locations in Europe.  They would sit down to paint a scene, busily recording every tiny detail.


I would rock up,  look at the picture, and would ask "what is the title ?".  I would frequently be rewarded with a rather blank look.  As if it should be OBVIOUS ....."street scene"  "beach scene"  "the old church" and so on.  Sometimes, this was fine......the subject would lend itself to a simple title...but at other times, there was no clear message, it was just a scene.  I would then ask..."what is it that first attracted you to this scene?".  After some thought, the answer might, for example, have been "I liked the way the bushes tumbled over the wall".  Yet, in the painting, the bushes and the wall were small and overwhelmed by other elements.   When I would do a quick sketch, focussing on the lovely shapes of the bushes and the way they curved over the wall, searching out echoing shapes and rhythms,  making those the stars of the show, the student would finally get the point.


Because they were so busy putting in every detail, they had overlooked the power of a title, the way a title for a picture can focus the mind of the painter, and then, eventually, the eye of the viewer. If they had done a quick sketch and called it "Tumbling bushes", they would have realised how they needed to subordinate other details of the scene in favour of the tumbling bushes.  


A scene can be adjusted subtly to emphasise a particular concept, message, or even atmosphere, with the use of a title.  For example, I once did a whole series of dancer images.  They could have been called Dancer 1, Dancer 2, Dancers 3.   Instead, I chose titles like "resting" "behind the scenes"  "between sets" and in some cases even more fancy titles like  "contemplation".   (Bit pretentious mind you. I rather regretted that one.    I tend to prefer simple titles, but then, I always do thumbnail sketches, so my titles almost write themselves because my concept is usually obvious.)   

This little pastel painting is called "Calling Home".  It is quite a busy scene, with the cafe with its eye-catching umbrellas, the trees with their unusual trunks, the sloping street behind the trees......but the title immediately encourages the viewer to focus on the figure, to "read" a story into the painting. 


I remember being very impressed by a lovely portrait done by Alicia Sotherland. The model is a man, eyes down, glasses perched on nose,  a head and shoulders portrait.  the cast-down eyes, with no contact at all with the outside world,  could have made it quite difficult to relate to the picture, but it was called "lost in a book".  So nice, so strong.  If you would like to see it:  http://www.aliciasotherland.com/pastels/lost-in-a-book


Next time you are sitting in front of a scene.......and doing your preliminary or thumbnail sketch (you always do those, don't you.............), give your piece a title.  You can change it later if you wish, I would always tell my students that titles need not be set in stone, paintings sometimes dictate their own titles to you as you are working.  Starting with a title is such a motivating factor,  however, I think you will be surprised by the way a title will help you to produce a stronger, more focussed image.


A little challenge/COMPETITION for you. 


 I have deliberately not given a title for the image at the top of this post.  Can you come up with a suitable one, something a bit more interesting than "the ballet class?"   Leave them as comments here so everyone can see.  I will choose two to win a copy of my Blurb book. 


In fact, what about a further challenge?  If anyone would like to send me, by email, a painting they have done, with an interesting title which goes beyond the obvious,together with a few words to say why the title helped you to create a more focussed image, I will show a few of them in a forthcoming blog post.

further sketchbook thoughts

Before we get to specifics about materials and sketchbook types, I would like to say a further word or two about the USE of the sketchbook.  You saw from my previous post that I like to sketch on my travels, and my sketchbooks often contain images which are simply records of what I see and want to capture.

small woodland thumbnails

However, I touched on the idea of also using your sketchbook for THUMBNAIL SKETCHES, and without going into the whys and wherefores and design elements of thumbnails, let me just say this.  When you are working on location, you sit in front of a promising subject - and it stretches on indefinitely, above, below and to each side, doesn't it!  Well, if you plan to create a painting from your subject, it really does help to get some sense of what the image may look like eventually CAPTURED WITHIN A RECTANGLE (or square of course). You can use your camera viewfinder, this helps to isolate a scene.  You can also use a small cardboard viewfinder.  whatever you choose, doing a thumbnail forces you to:

•  take the edges of the scene into consideration, 
• to see how your subject "fits" within that rectangle, and
• whether it "balances" nicely. 

and when you then come to paint at your easel, you will feel a greater sense of confidence - it makes a big difference, even without knowing very much about composition and design..it will automatically help you to trust your own judgement.


The top image above shows three thumbnails in a sketchbook which is approx  10" square.    Two pencil ones, and one with added watercolour.  In the end, I didn't like any of them very much, and didn't paint this subject at all!  But I did enjoy sitting there doing them, and it is all good practice.

Venice window

Now this one I really enjoyed.  I started with the top window, and allowed the image to grow up, down and out from there.  I knew more or less right from the start that I would paint within a tall rectangle, it was that kind of scene,  so I just had to think carefully about the placement of the main elements when I started on my pastel paper.  After about 15 mins spent on this watercolour sketch in my sketchbook, I cracked on with the painting, which happened quite quickly.  the shadows moved a bit as I worked, but I had my sketch to refer to, so it didn't affect me too much, I stuck with the sketchbook shadows.

I could have worked the thumbnail just with pencil, a tonal study,  but actually, I find it really helpful to use watercolours onto my pencil sketches;  with a tiny winsor & Newton travel box of watercolours, I can quickly capture the areas of colour and tone within the scene, more quickly than scribbling away with coloured pencils.  Watercolours are transparent, so if it dries too light, you simply add another layer.  You don't have to worry too much about technique, as it dries very quickly. If you put in a tone which is too dark, you can add some clear water and blot it to lift the colour.  If you wish, you can work with pencils over the top, even a simple lead pencil is good to add extra darks.   Remember,  it is only a sketchbook image after all - you dont have to show it to anyone, it is just for YOU, for reference!

TIP:  Just one thing.........if you do work just in pencil, pastel pencils, or charcoal, dont forget to use plenty of spray fixative, because otherwise, when you close your sketchbook, you will dirty the opposing page.

If you have no chance to work on location to complete a painting from your thumbnail, you can take photos of course, and then work at home, BUT ONE THING IS FOR SURE.  YOUR MEMORY OF THE PLACE WILL BE REINFORCED BY HAVING DONE THAT LITTLE SKETCH ON LOCATION. It makes a huge difference.  Just taking a photo and working from that photo at home is one approach, which can work,  but I absolutely promise you, hand on heart, that you will enjoy your painting experience far more if you have spent time producing a thumbnail sketch first.  Studying your subject FULL SIZE, even just for the 15 mins it might take to make that little thumbnail sketch, makes all the difference in the world.  It is a very positive way to use part of your sketchbook.

Sketching - for fun and with a purpose

During my years as a tutor, I have been aware that many people actively avoid sketchbooks - perhaps they think of them as a waste of time.  Or, they don't have the time to bother with them.  Well, no matter whether you are a hobby painter, or someone wishing to make a career out of painting, using a sketchbook, in my opinion, is not just fun, but ESSENTIAL.


Do I hear you say "Oh Really?  WHY?"  (I bet some of you will)

Your sketchbook charts your progress. (I guarantee that the sketches at the end of a book are better than those at the beginning).  


It can record your thoughts - when you go back to look at a sketch, you will know exactly how you felt when you made it.  


It will help you to "see" better, and to translate what you see in our three dimensional world, into two dimensions on paper. You will be "exercising" your eyes and hands.  


 It is a place for practice.  It can be totally private.  It can be small enough to fit in your pocket, and carry at all times.


My sketchbooks serve three main purposes.


In them I...

• make a record of what I see, for fun, for practice, for memories
• make thumbnail sketches to try out compositions for paintings and finally
• in the back pages, I make written notes of things I learn along the way, I put in quotes, titles of books, little notes to show, for example, how to construct something in perspective;  anything I might hear or see and feel could be useful.

My sketchbooks are the most wonderful journals.  They are trips down memory lane.  Not every sketch "works";  not every note is useful, doesn't matter a bit, my sketchbooks are part of me, of my life as an artist - a life which started quite "late" in life - the subject of another blog, methinks.  For now, let me just encourage you to go out, buy a few sketchbooks in different sizes, and make a pact with yourself to use them regularly - while waiting for a bus or train;  while sitting in waiting rooms or cafes;  when on holiday;  even while watching TV.    I will write more about materials to use in another blog very soon.  Here are a couple more sketchbook pics, "done for fun", and on location - the camel market was VERY smelly!