Thoughts From Marsha

Week #1 Lesson - Let’s Get Started!

Topics will be: (1) Intention, (2) Shapes and value, (3) Process enjoyment ... but that does not mean we will not talk about other helpful things. And each subject can’t happen without the other ones!

You have had three good lessons from fantastic artists before me about values, color temperature (what I teach most), and aerial perspective, among other things.

•    I want to teach you to slow down.
•    I want to teach you to be deliberate.
•    I want to teach you to make decisions from at least four to six feet away while sitting down.
•    Most important ... I want to teach you to enjoy the process.

Let’s start with Intention first.
Without a beginning “intention” things can go astray quickly.

    1. Your plan
    2. Your feelings
    3. Your ideas

These three things will get you to a concept (and your intention) hopefully.

Have your sketchbook so you can write down each of those three things, and make a decision on where it is leading you in the piece.

I suggest you leave plenty of space between each of those to write things down at different times.

You should also do more than one thumbnail of your idea. You can see in my image here there are three ideas I have used. These may not be of the same scene, but you can see how I lightly drew a small box, and then quickly put in the important element.

FYI ... these were done while I was riding with my hubby on the highway going out West... at probably 80 miles per hour. I only had a few seconds to get down what I saw! But it looks the same if I am in studio or plein air painting.

Stay as simple as you can ... and you will get better at this!

For this lesson, it does not matter if you chose a photo or a plein air spot, or maybe you want to do a still life or figure. Each day you will feel different about what you want to paint.

Whatever you have chosen do the following ... close your eyes and feel like you are there if you are using a photo. Were you previously there or is this from your memories and/or different resources? Either way, do the same thing!

Or, if you are working plein air or from life, close your eyes. Visualize the study composed with those three things you wrote from the beginning above (the plan, feelings, ideas). Write down something!

Remember it is about your feelings about what drew you to it.

One more time! You should start with what drew you to want to paint “this.” That is a huge element in making it work.

You can always return to your initial feeling of why you wanted to paint it to help determine if you have strayed too far. That sketchbook with thumbnail, notan or descriptive words can be the difference in losing your way or having success.

Above, the scene at top left, and the start of my plein air painting was changed to what I had seen a little earlier. The morning colors were what had drawn me to this scene. Most times you can do this if you make the decision and write it down.

I am showing you a few photos and paintings done or in-progress to give you a visual of what I am talking about. We will get to the actual starting in a bit, so hang with me! I know I talk a lot!!!

To help you do this: 

1. think about the light and where is it coming from,
2. is it warm or cool light,
3. is there noise: music, birds, sounds, people,
4. if on location or from a photo, is there stillness, or breeze,
5. if a still life set up, are there emotions you feel for any of the objects,
6. is there a temperature of the overall scene that you want... warm or cool.
   
   

This is a 14" x 11" plein air beginning from a few weeks ago at a plein air event in Greenville, GA.

I am showing you this so you see how it may look in the beginning of applying your first layer of pastel when you are not doing an alcohol wash.

And here is another plein air painting, but from the Toccoa River started with intense and vivid morning colors!

My go to:
start intense and then layer to modify!

There is a lot of the alcohol wash that can be seen in the original but does not show in this photo.

I loved it so I added lines in the water and stopped. You know ... we need to stop earlier rather than “too late!” I wanted my feelings to show!

I realize there can be other emotions or feelings that come to you. If so, write them down quickly before you forget. You don’t have to make sentences.... just a couple of descriptive words. And you may not have an answer for all six above. I just want you to be emotionally involved in some way.

A successful study (painting) is usually more to do with what the artist was feeling about the subject than anything else. A good plan, and thoughtful beginning with a “less is more” attitude. I will most likely tell you this again!

I hope there are some ideas and inspiration to get you started thinking in a more simple way.

Now let’s get to the part where you can start a piece other than the preliminary work ... keep that sketchbook handy for reference when you need it.

A little more talk about Notan and what it does for you. Although I have talked about shapes above, this part will focus the idea to help you create the start in a more simple way.

Notan has more to do with shape ... using black and white (or dark and light) which is of course value. Thumbnails usually have 3 - 5 values in them.

Here are images to show you a few “starts” that were done with one color to put my intention, my design, on the surface.

I do use Ampersand Pastelbords and do not use paper 99% of the time. It took me a bit to get used to the “hard” surface of them, but it paid off. It is a sanded surface that is much like what the old Wallis sanded paper had in tooth!

For these I used alcohol and a soft brush to wet the light colors first, and then the dark.

I can move some of the dark around to create a middle dark value. This is playtime!

Don’t be too controlled. Do let some accidents happen. It is so much fun. And you may end up with exciting “accidental” spots you could not have planned!

Go slow to speed up!

Here is where I left the marsh scene you see above:

It sat in my studio for quite a bit of time for me to look at it with fresh eyes. I knew there was something I needed to do, or felt I needed to do.

You can see I have a design of big, medium and small shapes with a pathway for the eye.

The point to what I have shown and talked about is to know why you are painting what you have chosen. The sketchbook and your preliminary notan or “rough” sketch is a key element to remembering your reason.

Key words are such an important reminder as I mentioned on the first page of this lesson. It does not matter how bizarre the word if it came to your mind... it means something personal and that is what we are aiming for.

Do create something and share it for us to discuss what you feel, what you learned, and what you want to accomplish.

Remember: It’s the Journey, Not the Destination!