PaintBox Tips

PaintBox Tip #69 Is my painting finished?

27/10/2022

"Lunch for Pepe"

Although most paintings come to a natural conclusion, we all ask ourselves "is my painting finished yet?"

I have heard it said that "Your painting is finished before you have" meaning we should stop painting, stop fiddling!!

Further, by spending more time planning your painting and drawing "finished" value studies and sketches and then painting to those sketches and plans, you will find that "finishing" just seems to happen - your works will come to a natural conclusion.

On occasion, however, there will still be a work that takes longer to complete; it is 99.9% done but what is that final stroke? How do I decide if my work is finished?

Remember, sometimes we need time to make all these decisions, your painting does not have to be finished right now!

These are some of the questions I ask myself when I am hedging around:

Unity: does the artwork looked unified? In other words, does every element link to every other element in the painting? For example an orange pumpkin may not work in a painting with a car as the main subject. But it might if the car was parked in a pumpkin field. Does the artwork seem complete? is there anything that jumps out at it you?

Contrast: is there enough contrast? Is the darkest dark placed next to the lightest light in the focal area? What other contrasts are relevant to this piece of art? are there enough soft edges? are there enough hard edges in the focal area?

Dominance: is there one shape, mark or colour that is dominant over all the others? What additional shapes, marks or colours are required to reinforce the dominance?

Repetition: are there any colours, shapes or marks that seem isolated? Where could they be repeated to provide greater balance?

Harmony: does the artwork have a sense of harmony? Linked to unity, harmony provides a sense of equilibrium. For example harmony can be achieved by using a limited palette. is the style of all the marks and shapes similar? Eg, is there a shape that is painted based on your sense of realism but the rest of painting includes mostly abstracted shapes? Ie, do all your shapes have similar attributes?

Balance: is there good use of BIG, medium and small. Does the overall composition design work well? Are all opposing forces balanced? does it feel balanced? does your eye keep moving to a spot of nothing in the painting and then stop?

Gradation: a sequence of blending from one extreme to another providing harmony and contrast. For example, the sequence of steps between the lightest light and the darkest dark is as important as the juxtaposition of contrasts.

If that last wee gem is not answering itself quickly enough or your eye doesn’t pull directly to your focal point, put the painting away for a couple of weeks and then cast fresh eyes over it - the answer will very likely present itself to you. Sometimes, I leave a work in my studio or living room so i can see it as I'm moving about and seeing the same issue over and over again!!

do feel free to comment or ask a question!

Happy Painting!!

2 Comments

PaintBox Tip #30 Secret 7 Watercolour MO's

15/10/2022

0 Comments

Process strategies every watercolour painter needs to know!!

Start with less pigment
Good quality pigment that has been in your palette for a few days will work fine for MONTHS!!). Just give it a wee spritz with water when you’re ready and it will be good to go!! Then give the pigment a wee tap with a damp brush, mix with some water.
End with more pigment
During the latter stages of your painting, add fresh, creamy paint to your palette and increase the amount of pigment you use, particularly in your focal area. A painting made with the same paint to water ratio throughout can look lifeless and dull – variety is the spice of life!!

Start thin
start with thin washes – lots of water, a tiny touch of pigment. Then add a little more pigment, then a little more pigment until … think of each “layer” as tea, coffee, milk, cream and butter.
End thick
towards the end of your painting, continue to increase the amount of pigment until its almost straight from the tube.

Start big
your initial blocking-in will be big (background) shapes. For example, sky, mountain range, land, treeline, foreground, shadows = no detail
End small
Add detail marks in the final stages of your painting eg, one or three sheep, fence post, letterbox, gumboot, Farmer Brown etc.

Start soft edged
the most wonderful thing about blocking-in is creating a soft edged underpainting – allowing the colours to blend and bleed is the natural wonder of watercolour – given to us on a plate!! Continue to create soft edges as you progress through your painting.
End hard edged
As your painting dries more, hard edges will appear and draw the viewers eye to your focal area.

Start with big brushes
Start a painting by blocking in with a big brush, bigger than you think you can handle or is right for your paper size
End with small brushes
your final marks will be calligraphic detail marks with smaller brushes

Start with light values
Similar to pencil sketching, your lightest to mid value colours can be washed in around your areas of planned whites – it’s better if the whites are too big, they can be solved later. Then you can build darker values on top of that until you have painted all the values you planned in your value sketches.
End with dark values
our final values will be the darkest you planned in your concept and value sketches.

Start with more water
this is when you need your big full bodies soft brush – to load up lots of water or colour tinted water and to create your blocking-in washes.
End with less water
progress your painting with less and less water all the while increasing the amount of pigment. Your finishing marks may be almost paint straight from the tube.

BONUS SECRET!!
Start holding brush at tip
for less control and brush strokes from the shoulder while you block-in and create your foundational BIG shapes
End holding the ferrule
like you’re writing a cheque, my Glaswegian tutor used to say. This is where you’ll need more control, as you are “writing” your calligraphic finishing marks

Have fun!!

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PaintBox Tip #102 Don’t give up on a sketch that’s gone wrong!

4/6/2022

6 Comments

Sketching is how I get my buzz to paint a scene, especially if I’m not enthralled with a scene or feeling a bit out of sorts (jetlagged, just plain tired or moody - mamma mia!)

We all do it … sometimes our sketches are not right, sometimes we have to do the wrong version to get to the right version. The wrong version helps us to see.

This is especially true if you’re working on a new subject. A new subject may require some intense study and you may have to sketch it several times to really start to understand it. A sunny day is a brilliant opportunity because you’ll see more detail, more shadows that highlight the lights and help you understand the shapes. In architecture (and every subject) it’s a good idea to focus on a small area (see John Ruskin’s sketches of Lucca, little studies of the shapes of the rooflines, monuments, decorations) and gradually increase the subject area. This can lead an artist to an intense passion for a subject lasting many years, the challenge can be totally absorbing. Everytime we sketch (paint, write music/lyrics, sculpt, poeticise, pontificate etc) we see new elements and make surprising discoveries.

Measuring the relationships is how we learn – how high is this compared to that? How wide? Is it a square or a rectangle? How acute is the angle? how dark does it have to be to make another shape understandable? How light? and all the steps between

Try not to give up on a sketch, start with light marks and 5 big shapes. Once everything’s in position add values, light to start with then build up to a very dark dark.

This one is still not a very good sketch but I’ve learned how the shapes work together (or not!) and their relationship to each other. Maybe I’ll come back and have another go, maybe I’ll just get stuck in and paint it now!

non ferma cari amici!!

PS I often say to students an eraser is an unnecessary tool but i really needed it with this sketch!!
I love light poetic pencil marks - especially wrong ones - they add character and pad out a little - in other words don't be neat and tidy, leave what you have deemed as wrong and let them show.

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PaintBox Tip #69 Is my painting finished?

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PaintBox Tip #102 Don’t give up on a sketch that’s gone wrong!

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Amanda Brett - Watercolour Artist

PaintBox Tip ​#69 Is my painting finished?

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PaintBox Tip #30 Secret 7 Watercolour MO's

Get my PaintBox Tips straight to your inbox every week

PaintBox Tip #102 Don’t give up on a sketch that’s gone wrong!

Get my PaintBox Tips straight to your inbox every week

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Amanda Brett - Watercolour Artist

PaintBox Tip #69 Is my painting finished?