Perspective - Observation

If you've taken any basic visual art course, you've been exposed to perspective. Vanishing points, two-point perspective -- terms you most likely have heard and concepts you most likely have used along with all the other terms and concepts.

Perspective is just illusion, a product of how the lens of our eye projects light onto the "picture plane" of the retina and of how our brain interprets the resulting pattern. Railroad tracks don't really converge six miles away to a single point, do they? No, of course not, but we have to have some kind of rule or tool so we can make order in our drawing and painting and create a convincing work of art.

The rules of this "grand illusion" were first invented by goldsmith Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) and later codified in a treatise by humanist Leon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472). (For more on the history of perspective, see http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/projects/perspective/theory.htm.) Artists have been using these rules ever since. If you want to get real technical you can study perspective and learn to produce technical drawings which is not a bad thing since many people make their living doing just that. But, you don’t always have to be so technical when you paint. Like almost everything else, getting your paintings to look real comes down to observation. Paint what you see. Look for shapes and paint them. Put the puzzle pieces together.

Callaway painter, Durinda Cheek reminded me the other day when we were talking about having confidence in brushwork that it’s the same thing with color. Paint what you see. “Mix your color to match what you see,” said Durinda. She explained further, “A fellow painter put it simply, "Is it too dark, too light, too bright, too dull?" In other words, don't just put paint on the surface if it isn't right. One thing you can do is load your brush and hold it up to compare it to your subject. Some artists even put a small stroke on the canvas, compare it, and if it isn't right, wipe it off! “ Good advice Durinda.



Sunlit
Watercolor
22 x 30
$1200.00 + shipping/ handling
White rag mat with gold carved wood frame

You can see more of Durinda's work at www.durinda.com

Note to mailing list: To view past blog messages or to make a comment on the public blog, click here.