Sauer Beckmann Farm9" x 12"
oil on canvas board
Above is my painting for today- I took the photo after getting home. I have never tackled dappled sunlight before. It was a little daunting. The shadows kept moving and disappearing and reappearing and rearranging themselves into new patterns.
At one point, I was painting away and feeling a little frustrated and disappointed with my progress, and Calvin came by and said "don't touch this part anymore, and make this cool color warm." Wouldn't it be nice to have someone standing over our shoulders every time we paint telling us how to improve our work? Instead of a Shoulder Angel, it would be a Shoulder Artist. My problem came from trying to paint what I knew and not what I saw. The shadow colors were warm oranges and pale purples, not the blue and greenish-gray I had been using.
So here are some of the things I learned today:
There are 4 elements of painting.
1. Shape
2. Value
3. Color
4. Edges
Always start your painting with a preliminary thumbnail to work out the design. -And don't just copy what you see- create a good design.
Color Structure: Think of the color wheel, and paint with the full circle of colors within highlights, shadows, and mid-ranges. Everything goes in a circle.
Now keep in mind, these are Calvin's tips after being digested by my mind. When you take a workshop from him, I would love to hear what you get from it because we all gather different information.
I am now off to rearrange my plein air set-up... I made the mistake of taking my French easel instead of my Thumbox, because I thought it would be easier to paint on the 9 x 12 canvases. I have a clip for the Thumbox to keep anything larger than an 8 x 10. I'm going back to my beloved itty set-up. Someday I will have a larger pochade box for larger canvases.
6 comments:
This is a beautiful piece, Sara - and how nice of you to share what you've learned. Vicarious workshops have to suffice sometimes. I'll have to check out Calvin Liang's website too. Thank you!
I love this piece. Thanks for the tips you learned. I'll be anxious to see more of what you learned and if you recognize you are incorporating what you have learned. Can you take a picture of your plein air set up and post it?
Isn't it amazing how he creates such beauty with just a few strokes.
I also found that it was amazing that he uses every color under the sun and still manages to get such lovely greys and the colors all go together so well.
Thanks for the reminder... I remember he did come over to me and remind me about temperatures... Had me add warms or cools where I wouldn't have before. I enjoyed that workshop.
That is a sweet painting. I couldn't make the workshop this year. So I'll need to see More of ya'lls paintings. It's so cool.
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nice work
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