http://www.conceptart.org/forums/art-finished-art-and-artwork/99413-figure-life-paintings-demo.html
For this particular piece I followed virtually the shortest process of the different procedures I use while painting.
This procedure involved 3 basic steps:
1. Preparatory Linear Drawing
2. Monochrome Value Study
3. Form Painting
Preparatory Linear Drawing (setting up and early block-in)
Drawing with graphite on paper or charcoal on linen.
For this piece I started on drawing paper using graphite and later
transferred it to my linen. This is the way I usually start.
Occasionally, I draw directly on the linen and when doing so I usually
start with vine charcoal and then finish using charcoal pencils.
Height Relationships to establish proportion.
The first thing I do when starting a careful drawing is to set up a
series of height relationships. Generally I place 8 or 9 carefully
chosen tic marks. I derive these through a combination of subdivision
(such as finding halfway points) and or establishing a unit of measure
(similar to using a head length as a measuring unit). These marks are
very important and I trust them to guide me through the rest of the
drawing so they must be as accurate as possible. With them I can find
widths and other parameters. These parameters establish proportion; a
fundamental component in any accurate drawing.
Blocking-in seeing for shapes and tilts.
I then begin blocking in the objects using predominately straight lines
(which are easier to relate and compare). I looked to see shapes and
relate tilts. As I blocked-in these shapes I constantly took notice of
how they aligned with one another both vertically and horizontally.
Preparatory Linear Drawing (refining and breaking down block-in)
Refining the block-in.
In continuing the block-in I shifted to breaking down the larger shapes
into smaller shapes. I continued to look at both the shapes and the
tilts. I worked to break down and refine my most central object. At this
point I was mainly thinking in terms of two-dimensional shapes,
concerning myself not with the object I see but with the shapes and
patterns I see. Three-dimensional thinking will come later. While
drawing I was cycling through multiple checking systems to find the
placement of points, lines and shapes for each decision I made.
Preparatory Linear Drawing (mid-stage of finishing)
Point to point along the contour.
In this image I had begun to finish a section of my linear drawing. To
finalize the contour I begin to move in a point to point way, looking to
see the subtle shifts of the line. I was also moving my mind into a
more three dimensional way of thinking. I was asking myself if the line
made sense with the structure of the object
Finding forms on the interior and separating light from shadow.
On the interior I broke down the drawing finding as many different
interior forms as I could. Although I was now thinking about the forms
(three-dimensional thinking) I was still registering the shapes in a
two-dimensional way. I then also lightly filled in the areas of shadow
with a relatively flat tone. When separating "light" from "shadow"
objects are seen in a more sculptural way. Additionally, it aids in
making the image, with all of its linear shapes, less confusing to
interpret
Preparatory Linear Drawing (mid-stage of finishing)
Switching drawing tactics.
In this image I had finished the linear drawing for all of the
foreground objects and was midway through the background drapery. My
tactics for drawing the background had shifted. I skipped the
preliminary stages of blocking in shapes and then slowing breaking them
down. I felt I had enough information to freehand the background,
drawing the exact shapes that I saw. Because of this I begin to draw in
the same way as when I finalized the contour of the foreground objects
in a "point to point" fashion.
Triangulating points and scanning plumb lines.
While finalizing the contour I was largely triangulating points and
scanning plumb lines. However, as shapes were formed I would take note
if they matched the shapes I saw. This is a faster way to draw but it is
easy to loose track of the larger shapes and patterns if one is not
careful.
Preparatory Linear Drawing (finished drawing)
Categories of lines to look for.
This image is of the finished drawing. When teaching a question that
often comes up is how much of a drawing is necessary. Although much of
this comes down to experience, knowing how much information you
personally need to carry on with the process, some guidelines are to
look for lines that tell about structure, the light source and abrupt
value or color changes. Keeping this in mind, three categories of lines I
generally look for are: the contour, contours of overlapping forms, and
the "Terminator*". Two secondary and more subjective categories are:
abrupt plane changes and abrupt local value changes.
*also known as "Apelles' Line," the "Bedbug Line," and the "Core Shadow"
Monochrome Value Study
Function of the value study.
Before moving on to the actual painting I did a small (approximately
quarter scale) monochrome value study. The purpose of the study was to
better understand the larger value relationships of the setup. It was
referred to throughout the actual painting in helping to guess the value
of any given area. It was also a chance to make some slight alterations
to the actual values that existed in the setup with the intent of
enhancing the feel of the painting or composition.
Painting (early stages and getting started)
Transferring and toning the Linen.
After transferring my drawing to the stretched linen using a charcoal
transfer, I inked over the lines with "India" ink and then lightly toned
the surface to achieve a fairly neutral, light in value, grey. Once
this fully dried I moved on to the actual painting stage.
Form Painting.
This type of painting may be referred to as "Form Painting" where one
moves very carefully over the forms of the objects. Form painting in
this way is very challenging. It is a finish as you go way of working.
The challenge is similar to that of executing a refined line drawing
with no block-in. It requires a high degree of concentration to not
loose track of larger color and value relationships. This is the main
reason I executed the value study before moving on to this stage. It is
not for all temperaments and is not the way I always precede in a
painting but almost always the way I finish refined areas of my
paintings.
The setup.
This is a picture of the setup. As you can see the value study was close
at hand. The jar of medium on the right hand side of the easel was a
mixture of 25% stand oil and 75% turpenoid. However, I didn't use very
much medium while painting. I mainly used it for oiling out sunken in
spots to match the paint after it dried out
Painting (continued)
Painting the value key.
This image shows the painting a bit further along. I picked this area to
start because it had high contrast and a full range of values. This
area (aided by the value study) would serve as the "key" to help me make
decisions about values in other areas of the image.
Painting (continued-2)
Interpreting values.
Although I have been referring to "values" in this discussion so far, I
should add that my decisions about value have not all been made by
optical assessments alone. Even though I am aware of the values I see I
also am guided by the direction of the light source to aid in
understanding what I see and filter what I am seeing.
Painting (continued-3)
Gradations understood in both two and three-dimensional ways.
By knowing the direction of the light I can anticipate the orientation
of the value gradations that I am seeing. In a purely optical and
two-dimensional way these are the gradations that occur over a
particular shape. In a conceptual and three-dimensional way these
gradations explain the distribution of light over a form. This
understanding of how the light works on different types of surfaces
helps me in understanding what I see and aids in giving it organization
and structure.
Form light and highlight.
As I worked I made mental notes about how the light behaved differently
on different surfaces. I often had to decide if the particular form I
was work on was dominated by form light or by highlight. For each I
conceptualized the light direction differently.
Detail.
Another detail.
In the above I was only able to touch on some of the many ideas that
concern me during the execution of a painting. Yet, I hope for those of
you who have an interest in the practice and science of painting it
gives some insight into my approach
-Flynt
