Hint of the Month
Pastel painting on masonite board covered with a gesso
pumice surface
©Doug Dawson
A Studio Landscape Painting. This painting involved several
problems that are worth discussing. There was a subtle underlying backwards "S"
in the subject. That backward "S" starts with the cloud and goes down through the buildings. See
the the dark line through the color thumbnail above. It extends through the buildings and ends
on a boat that I added later.
©Doug Dawson
An "S" design is one of the basic compositional
types which is used in many landscapes. (If you aren't familiar with this
idea check out the little book written by Edge Payne on landscape painting.)
Typically the "S" is a stream, road or path going off into the distance.
If a painting has a focal point it is usually along the edge of this "S"
In this case the focal point is the light part of the center most building.
Think of the "S" as a road, which in this case is mostly hidden, The house
in question sits right along the side of it.
This painting is an example of,
working from large to small. The big shapes are blocked in first.
Then those shapes are broken down into smaller and smaller shapes. I often
begin sunny day landscapes by under-painting the large shapes with warm colors.
©Doug Dawson
At this stage I have started to introduce the colors that will characterize the
final painting. The shapes are still big.
In the original design there was no boat. Knowing that a distant shoreline
can be a barrier to the viewer entering the scene, I decided to
ad a boat. The idea was that the boat would serve as a stepping stone, across the water
to the distant shore.
It is best to use sketches or photographs when wishing to ad new objects to a
painting.
When we create from memory or invent things the objects we create tend to be generic. This is
because our memory of things is generic. I used a picture of a boat
as my source. I knew, that from my view point I should be looking slightly
down on the boat. I knew that the size of the boat needed to be adjusted so it
looked appropriate in size to the buildings and I knew that angle of light on the boat needed to be the same as
the angle of light on the buildings.
©Doug Dawson
IN my photograph the light was at a different angle. To solve this problem, I made a
primitive clay model of the boat so I could shine a light on it ,at the proper angle. This allowed
me to study the light and shadow patterns.
The
mast of the boat and the three telephone poles, which I added later, reinforce
the backward "S" design.
Look for future examples of other topics.
The pastel art of Doug
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ually in pastel or oil. It is free art instruction usually demonstrating
or illustration a principle in
art or design.