Roadmaps, Thumbnails and Final Destinations
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ต.ค. 2021
- In my experience planning releases creativity rather than diminishes it. Having chosen the direction, you are free to focus on that, rather than be confronted with major, and potentially derailing, decisions about direction once you've started.
Link to podcast: learntopaintpodcast.com/podcast/episode36
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#ianroberts #masteringcomposition #planningincreasescreativity - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
- Antoine de Saint Exupery.
Great quote George.
A plan without a wish is just a gaol.
- Saint Justmadeitup.
In my observation of artists in various settings there is a certain "freedom" mentality, a belief that if you "let yourself go" and just splatter and smush and pour and plaster on more and more paint that some magical image will "appear". In reality even great, engaging, abstract paintings have some plan or intent, some map,, colour plan, shape, mass, and underlying design. What I am trying to say is having a plan, a map of some sort does not inhibit thought or stifle creativity it frees you you up to be able to get to where your inner vision wanted you to go. And that is also true in non-representational art, which is really Pattern and Design based on a colour palette and the medium you use and what size and shape and substrate you use. Planning. in painting, like planning in life, facilitates us to get to where we want to go.
I think that is exactly right Diane. If you look say at Diebenkorn's Ocean Park series you can see the structure he relies on to make them work. Variations on a theme that lasted him decades. You need a hook or handle to get in even if, in some cases, it isn't apparent to the viewer in the finished product. Good comment. Thank you.
Well stated.
How can you plan intuition? Many of my paintings are intuitive that come up in the moment while drawing? Ok I think I have answered my own question 🙏
@@yubi52 What conclusion did you reach?
Hahaha! That moment when you realise the mountains are not where they should be. Brilliant! Looking at my old paintings with your planning in mind it becomes clear where I lost the plot. Thank you, invaluable advice.
Wonderful! Delighted you found it helpful Priscilla
I love the way you draw, Ian! Your drawings stand alone as beautiful art.
Thank you so much Colleen.
Thanks again, loved the map analogy! Also enjoyed the podcast, you have a unique ability to transfer the tools of your passion to others … and we are grateful.
Thanks so much Joe.
Fantastic!
As an architect, I find many of these points very relatable. I could only imagine what a building would look like if we did one iteration.
Fabulous way to start my day by watching this video first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. Thank you for another great lesson and your insight on planning and simplifying any painting. Merci beaucoup!
You are so welcome! Thank you for continually watching! Glad you are enjoying them
I have been thinking about this video, over the last several days…..
I agree with your premise that creativity is enhanced with planning. It permits greater freedom in determining the finer details when you have the big picture, or the large value masses, for example, when drawing your composition. It does simplify and clarify how you will paint your shapes…..allowing one to focus and address issues before they become problematic…..making the overall process more enjoyable. Creativity is reflected in the choices made about color, mood, style, et cetera.
I think we often confuse creativity and discovery as being a spontaneous or impulsive act, occurring only in the moment, not realizing that there is preparation and planning involved, whether it be a dinner, a trip, or a painting.
Thanks, again, for a great demonstration and video!
wow. the quality of the analogy at the beginning. maturity, wisdom and all that.
That's kind of you to say Ray. Thanks.
The creativity starts with the idea and proceeds through all planning stages to the end product. The whole process is creative, not just the painting part.
My paintings are more successful and less painfully frustrating now that I plan out my paintings. It took me years and years to learn this discipline. So, From thumbnails, a few of those, to larger sketch, to brunaille underpainting to the final oil painting. Planning works. And i find painting so much more freeing and enjoyable. Thanks for posting this video.
The interview is an invaluable source for learning. My notes are rich. As a student I'm excited to apply the principles you so beautifully conveyed, with crystal clarity. Infinite thanks and gratitude for sharing your wisdom.
Thank you for addressing this in such a concise way. Listen to and enjoyed the podcast yesterday evening ~ so much valuable info there.
Glad you like both the video and the podcast Brenda.
So true. Planning helps me to be more creative. Way more than not. This hasn’t always been the case but it certainly is now that I’ve created more over the years.
I find that my creative process is definitely engaged in that "planning/drawing it out before painting" part, but then I also love pencil and ink drawings and treat them as another piece of my art so maybe that's why. Your going on a trip analogy was great; thanks for the video!
Hi Christine, I have the same thing with drawing. I just like the process a lot. And don't feel it is pulling me away from painting.
Great demonstration with drawing values, shapes, and setting within a painting. This photo is terrific and definintely flows already so the painting seemingly would easily flow as well.
Can’t wait to see the finished painting, Ian.
Hi Martha, that is next week's video. On painting brilliant sunshine.
Hi Ian ! Thank you so much for another much awaited video ! I truly enjoy watching you draw your sketches in pencil ! I would frame all them as sometimes I find sketches more appealing than the finished painting itself !
The way you put shapes , lights, darks.... it looks so simple yet it says it all ! I enjoy your explanation as it is always to the point ! I will now listen to the Podcast which I am sure I will enjoy! Sincere gratitude and warmest regards...Lorraine 🤗🎨
Thanks so much Loraine. Delighted you found the video helpful and like the drawings. all the best.
Definitely make plan!! I spent two years pleinair paiting without a plan and it was the worst 2 years of my painting life!! I am now o Sketchbook #33 and learn so much doing my thumbnails..THEY are a must-do when painting outdoors!! THANKS for this reminder, Ian!
Well said. That impulse and hurry to start when plein air painting ruins so many paintings. I mean you sure can't doddle but some planning as you say makes all the difference.
Wonderful explanation. Also, I get the sense that drawing is every bit as satisfying as painting - meditative in its own way.
Yes that is exactly how I approach it. Forces you to slow down, pay attention. Meditative as you say.
I’ve done some landscape painting without planning. I can clearly see how much more improved, and therefore satisfying, a plan before I paint would be. Now I cannot wait to check it out, and try it myself. Thank you.
Great to hear that you found it helpful and good luck with the next "planned" painting Kathleen.
Hi Ian, I am a beginner watercolorist.
In my opinion, the planning stage can be creative.
Your thumbnail sketch is beautiful! Point well made. Thank you for your generosity and brilliant insights.
You are so very welcome Sally
Planning IS exploring! I think the people resisting this are hurrying towards a finished product devaluing the process that will improve the finished product.
I agree. Gotta love the process.
Fabulous lesson. Thank you!
I love your videos! I always learn so much
Thank you so much for all these excellent lessons Ian. They’ve been so helpful for me. I’m finding that not only is it an excellent idea to plan, but I also get twice the enjoyment because i’m creating the image twice in different ways! I’m working my way through your lessons and just bought your book. I’m a watercolour painter but your lessons on simplification, planning etc are a very valuable backbone to creating in watercolour and I would think in any other medium too.
Wonderful lesson on planning. Thank you. I will work on sketching as you’ve done here. Seems incredibly helpful to do.
Super helpful! Thank you!!!
Ian, wow! this (and your next video) takes me right back to the basics I learned in your training. Great reminders!!! Thank you!! Have a fantastic week! :)
Loved the podcast interview. Lots of great information. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I make a lot of the classic beginner mistakes …like jumping straight to the paint without considering composition only to find my errors half way into the painting. You’ve provided very specific methods to begin fixing my bad habits. Who knows how long it would take me to figure out all this on my own. Keep ‘em coming. It’s certainly appreciated.
Glad you are finding the videos helpful. All the best.
Thank you for giving us the road map and how beautiful you can plan your subject. Thank you Ian Robert, I will keep it in mind while working for my art of painting
You are very welcome Usha!
Thank you for this VERY helpful and informative video!!! I love being subscribed to your channel, always come away with a new understanding on painting/drawing. I liked the analogy that you gave to parallel the planning of a painting (your drive to Yosemite). Perfect! I find the process of planning gives way to creativity- maybe not as spontaneous as others might be wanting but nonetheless very satisfying to explore the possibilities. I look forward to seeing how you paint this, in particular because of this planning step, but loving light and shadow as I do, want to see how you approach this to really make it pop, ie do you begin with the darks first to establish the darkest value or otherwise….stay tuned! Thanks again, and I hope you continue to produce these most valuable videos!!
As always another great lesson thanks so much for sharing your knowledge
Thanks again Doug!
As usual, very helpful! Thanks, Ian!
Thanks Nancy. Nice to hear from you.
Yes! To everything you discussed here. Gorgeous landscape. I do landscapes and the zen of seeing ‘into’ the patterns of nature is very gratifying. Thanks
Thanks for sharing! You are so welcome
Your drawings are exquisite in their own right! Thank you!
Thanks Mary. Nice to hear from you.
The travel story you shared is the perfect analogy! Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it Karen
Thank you Ian. Great lesson on planning. Loved the thumbnail sketch. I am planning to do that, loved the reference picture. Can’t wait to see you paint it. I will watch the podcast.
Glad you liked it Kamlesh. I've done the painting. It will be next's video.
Great analogies ! Thumbnail sketches are so quick, they encourage multiple experiments of composition, increasing the freedom of creativity - just try another one.
That's good point too Jim. There is so little invested. Just try something else.
Once again, a great lesson, and so much to lead me to painting better. Many thanks.
That makes me happy to hear. You are so welcome Cyndy
I LOVE your drawings, thanks for sharing and the podcast is fabulous! I had to laugh when you talked about how it sounded like you had had three cups of coffee - you were certainly talking fast, but you had so many wonderful facets to covers and I was taking notes as quickly as I could!
Glad you liked it Joani.
Great explanation. Thank you Ian.
Glad you enjoyed it
Excellent as always! Loved being walked thru the planning process and reasoning behind it.
Glad you enjoyed it Deborah!
Thank you as always Ian. I learn so much from listening to your thought process as you sketch. Looking forward to next Tuesday's painting. The podcast was also so informative. I am REALLY looking forward to your online class in January!!!!!!
Great to hear! Thank you for listening to the podcast and your support Jan
Hi, Ian. Thanks for another enlightening video. I really look forward to them.
It seems to me that "planning" not only sets the stage for enhanced creativity, but is actually a full-fledged part of creativity itself. If we were to paint without a plan, the artistic decisions that we would make about placement, value, etc. during the brushing would be considered "creative" behavior. I see no reason why moving those decisions to the time period just before we pick up the brush makes them somehow less creative. This is even more obvious when we consider that some behavior that takes place before we pick up the brush is actually considered to be almost the quintessence of creativity, namely the moment of inspiration itself.
So, to return to your metaphor from a previous video, the hero whose creative journey begins when he finds the treasure map, I might say that planning isn't finding the map by chance (which would involve no creativity,) but rather that planning is like the part of the story during which the hero searches in creative ways for the map itself. I'm thinking about the moment in the Arthurian legend when one of the knights, having decided to search for the Grail, begins by entering "a dark wood where there is no path because he thought that it would be a disgrace to go where another person had gone before." To me, this very first act, this decision about where to begin, inspired as it is by the need for a highly personalized sacred experience.., is the first moment of creativity. Deciding to enter a dark wood, rather than at a sunlit path, is the first moment of creativity...not the moment of the first battle with a minster. So, I would say that as soon as the artist thinks, 'Great view...how shall I paint it in my own personal way?"...... that is when creativity begins whether the artist proceeds to make the actualizing artistic decisions during brush-time or before.
Perhaps the words "planning' or "preparatory to painting" are misleading. Perhaps we need a different word to describe all of the artistic decision-making, whether enacted during or before brush-time....a word that would emphasize the creativity all of that decision-making.
Do you think that this is fully true or am I missing something?
Thanks, Ian!
Hi Eileen, thanks for your thoughtful ideas on, well what... to your point. Because as you say about the knight going into the dark forest, we can go back further than that too of course. Why did he want to become a knight. Or why did we decide to become artists. On many practical levels it makes no sense. But that impulse takes you to the place where you say, oh that's a great scene. But you are right without that moment of inspiration you can't begin. I'm with you though I can't separate the pre painting process from the painting process. It is all part of the same thing. Thanks for your comments. All the best.
Well said! Thank you.
Glad it was helpful Heidi!
Great video, great channel!
Thank you so much!
The podcast was great, as it happens I'd already listened to it before discovering this video in my feed. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it Greg.
Hi and Thanks for describing the positiv thing about planning and I will definitely try it on my next painting.
You are so welcome Ann-Marie!
Why do I need more… ah haaa. In a painting less is often more. I love how ai learn simplification from your videos.
I think I'm getting the idea - just need to practise! Thanks, Ian. Jane
Things like this take a lot of practice! Key is to enjoy the process. All the best
I just love your videos! I am about to go purchase your book Mastering Composition as I think it will be even more beneficial to have a book open beside me when I paint. You are brilliant in how you teach and I'm so lucky to have found you and your videos!
Delighted you found the videos too Mary-Chris
Thanks for this Video, Ian! The Podcast is very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it Mariana.
hello Mr.Ian Roberts just wanted to come by and say thanks because your book arrived last week and since then, I have been twice as much enjoying your youtube videos. Awesome stuff
HI Jim, delighted you are enjoying both the book and the videos.
Humbled by your beautiful knowledge and sharing sir..!💕💕💕👌😊
It's my pleasure Mohan!
I've learned so much from your videos but planning I believe is the most important lesson you've taught me 👍
That's great Anne. Glad to hear it. All the best.
Nice tutorial - I don't do this nearly enough - though I do plan the sheet to draw - you must know you are on the right track when your value-sketch is a work of art too.
Thanks for this
Thanks so much. Glad you liked it Stephen!
Just very thank to you
I’m very much convinced that what you say is true, but I find it hard to discipline myself to not just jump in 😁
Planning really helps and thanks for the thumbnail demo again Ian, cant wait for painting demo. Still struggling with contrast in lit and shadow areas...
Happy to help! Things like this take a lot of practice. Glad you are finding the videos helpful
I am terrible about planning. This is such a good reminder and so very helpful. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful Nancy. I hope you enjoy the process in the future
This particular video comes at a opportune time for me. I'm just starting a figural painting with a complex image and for the first time ever, I gridded the image first before sketching it and transferring it to my canvas. I can't tell you how many times I've done (particularly a figure) and ended up with part of a limb--usually a leg or foot--not even on the painting because I had not planned correctly. Of course the same true for any subject, so thanks a lot for another great video, Ian.
Delighted to hear it Evan. I find gridding so simple yet effective.
So very helpful it does free the creativity…
Glad you think so!
I really appreciated this lesson, it makes perfect sense that you work things out beforehand especially as a beginner. For example, I usually make a list before I go food shopping but then sometimes forget the list, however, because I wrote it down, I usually remember what I need. So it seems valuable to plan in some way.
me too!!!
Hi Tanya, that's a good analogy too. Something has been structured in that planning.
You are such a good drawer!
I'll focus much more on the planning. In fact I will then work up a finished planning drawing in ink and a colour wash for my exhibition (another looming deadline without sufficient time to do my paintings.) Also, I print the photo, as i have dry eyes staring at the screen (and it goes blank after no activity.) But I will use the grid. Thank you.
Hi Jonathan, that's an interesting idea of doing an ink wash drawing of something and including that along with the painting in your show. My computer keeps blanking out too and the on-off keep is of course covered in paint. Good luck with your exhibition!
An excellent video as always. I guess not everyone will want to paint or draw following the same conventions, but an appreciation of them and how to follow them would always be helpful.
Using your travel analogy, some people prefer the 'road map', or GPS, but others might like to get lost a bit and see where they end up. When I apply that analogy to myself, I think I do a bit of both 😅. If I'm honest, I could benefit from a more structured approach to help me learn and understand the basics. So for that reason, I'm ever so grateful for your videos and all your insights. Thank you.
Delighted you enjoyed the video Mark. Like most analogies I guess it falls apart at some point, because I enjoy walking a round a new city with no plan at all, just sort of drinking it all in. No goal in mind.
Excellent.
Many thanks Avinash!
These videos are helpful for getting unstuck
Plan your work, work your plan, my Mantra since my Junior year in College. This has held me in good stead for several career phases. I still use it for representational work. But, I'll sketch a general feel of an abstract and then let it take me where ever it feels right. Thanks
That's a good line for this Gerald. I've heard it before somewhere but never applied it specifically to an idea and it definitely works.
I've been unwell for a few days, but your email arriving in my inbox gave me a real lift. Thank you for another fascinating video. I greatly appreciate your efforts and sincerely thank you
Thanks so much Stephen and hope your feeling better now.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition not yet but getting there I think.
Could not agree with you more. I recently tossed out a piece I spent hours fighting. I had not planned it well and it went awry. Then I planned out my next piece and within just a few hours the piece emerged exactly right.
I have to say Wendy I have the same experience. One person said why do I keep doing that, not planning. Do I just need the drama of the struggle? Thought it was a good point.
Brilliant thank you
You're very welcome Annie
Hi Ian! All good advice and I do much better with painting as well and find the painting process goes much smoother for me when I do. I have begun to scope out a plein air site in advance of painting it, so when I get there I have an compositional idea in mind.
Cheers -Greg
Sounds good Greg. I like that idea of scoping out the site first. It becomes considered, rather than rushed.
Thank you
You are so welcome!
Enjoyed the teaching and example. I'm just starting to paint and already have found that I can make small adjustments, take small detours, but not totally wing it and be happy without a lot of painting over sudden dead ends.
Perhaps even abstract artists must work a plan or end up with a major disorder? Like writing a mystery: you can't just throw in suspects and clues willy-nilly. At least if I ever tried abstract, I'd want to have my finished work add up to something.
Your example of a mystery novel is a good one. The only way that can work is because of careful planning. People think abstract painters just start wailing away but usually then have some structure they work to. As a way to enter the problem. Delighted you are finding the videos helpful.
Especially enjoying listening to a fellow Canadian, just on general principle. I'm from SK. 😉 @@IanRobertsMasteringComposition
Thank you Ian for a very useful illustration of roadmaps,thumbnails and final destination. Recently tried to paint a picture of redwood trees and without thumbnail sketch I got lost and frustrated.
Glad it was helpful! It's frustrating when you end up at a dead end, with no path visible ahead. I know.
It's a matter of "perspective' if planning increases or decreases creativity.
Hi Joel, I'm sure we could discuss it and find lots of examples of where it might increase in some cases and decrease in others. I wouldn't want to say I've made a universal truth. But I find for myself, some planning saves me all kinds of trouble down the road and that frees me to fully engage with the image at hand rather than second guess what's going to happen and if it will even turn out. That is the kind of creativity it frees for me.
I will take your advice and do a sketch before going to canvas. Love your sketching technique and please tell me what pencil are you using?
My mom collage a lot. There is a lot of tutorials about it, Hobby Lobby can help her- always. She said she is an abstract artist following her process - the most important thing.
When you get into non representational collage she is probably right. If you have a representational idea in mind the planning can save you a lot of heart ache. But non representational I think you use the process that suits you.
I agree 🥰😍😌
Yep, I do think that planning helps and helps à lot.
But maybe not in the way you have described.
To my mind, I maybe mistaken and it could be discussed further, you are putting forward a ' technique' that has nothing to do with creativity.
If I am planning the same trip I did x years ago,- or to reproduce a picture i took - yes I do need a road map. Technically.
The creativity lay in the way I approached my trip in the first place, or the angle etc I chose in taking the photo.
If I am to ^ reproduce ^ this, then my creativity finds itself restricted.
When I paint (non representational ), I want and need the impulse of the moment.
I might need some sort of planning before I start- and I, myself, don't do it enough, I agree with that- but I do need to feel free to compose with my emotions as I go along.
Thanks again.
Yvon, I'm willing to admit that the analogy might break down pretty quickly. And when you are painting non-representationally then I agree with you. You need the ability to listen to the canvas and respond, plan or no plan. All the best.
Great video Ian! One other benefit of planning your work is that you are activating all those slow mental thinking processes when you draw, starting the sub-conscious thinking modes that will actually lead to inspiration and creativity when you paint. What kind of pencil are you drawing with? Is that flat lead, carpenter pencil?
I agree with you completely about how much you learn, even subconsciously when you draw. I use a Blackwing Matte pencil. It's like a 4B. I love them. Matte refers to the softness. Blackwing have others but are too hard really for drawing.
I'm a watercolor artist and love all the advice from Ian. I've been doing thumbnails and value sketches and planning much more than I used to. It makes all the difference in the world and I am more creative. Thanks for this session. I like your pencil.....is it a special sketching pencil?
Hi Paula, first I'm delighted you are enjoying the videos and finding them helpful. The pencils are Blackwing Matte. The Matte is like a 4B. Blackwing's other pencils I find too hard for drawing. More for architects say.
I have a great deal of trouble painting reflections in the water. Will you do a tutorial that includes that OR do you already have one you've already created. It would really help. Thanks!
Have a look at this one Nancy. It's a drawing but it'll give you the idea. th-cam.com/video/jsTaaFFD7cw/w-d-xo.html
Wow Ian, I've long thought your drawing is so great. I'm starting to become more convinced on the merits of actually doing the thumbnail; too lazy before. (Btw, would you mind telling me what kind of pencil you use, please?) It looks thicker than a 6B?
HI Clarice, I really like to draw. In its own right. I use Blackwing Matte pencils. It's like a 4B.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Great - thanks for that! (Mind you, also possessing your wonderful drawing skills would be a bit of a help..) P.s. they do sell them here in Sydney, Australia, I just checked.. :)
I really appreciate your videos and regularly find myself struggling between planning and and very minimally planning or not planning at all if I'm trying for an abstract painting. like to paint loosely for want of a better term. I find that detailed planning makes me paint too preciously and then I don't like the feel of my finished painting. Do you ever paint loosely oe abstractly? And if so how do you approach such paintings?
HI Barbara, it's a great question. In a way I think the mindset you start with starts to pull you in that direction. So if you plan too much for an abstract painting you are half way between one thing and another. My paintings stay pretty representational (now. I painted abstractly back in the 80s). When I think of painting abstractly now I think I would be an armature, a structure, to paint to. Loose. Flexible but something. Like Diebenkorn's Ocean Park series. You can see a structure that he uses and builds and erases on. What we see is the process of his playing with that structure in the finished canvas. I just don't know how I would stand in front of an empty canvas and start with nothing in mind. Just would not be my strength.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition Maybe that's my "problem," altho I love many abstract paintings its not my stength but I do want to want to paint loosely. I guess I will go back to planning more and then try to figure out how to keep from becoming tight.
Hi Ian, After you do the sketch, and are ready to start your painting… Do you look at your sketch to draw it in on your canvas, or do you look at your reference photo? Or a combination of both? And also when you are blocking in your shapes with color, do you still continue looking at your sketch?
On another note, I was also puzzled how to get to your links. What I had to do is just touch anywhere below your video and then the links appear. (It doesn’t say “show more”). That’s how it works on my iPhone anyway.
Thanks so much for all your valuable painting lessons! Looking forward to listening to your podcast right now…
Glad you enjoyed the video Lana. I've never tried to access the links on a phone. Must be different there. I'd say once I've done the sketch I don't look at it again when I paint. I paint from the photo. For me as I do the sketch I am seeing and learning a lot about the image. That is pretty much in my mind when I paint the scene.
Well hey if you get lost on your way to Yosemite, you might end up in Mariposa and then you could come paint with me! 😂 Nice video, I paint plein air so drawing first always seems to take up too much time, but maybe I should give it a go again.
Hi John, the thumbnail, just feeling out the structure within a rectangle, I find just takes 2-4 minutes of thought. Because as you say with plein air you gotta getting going. But that very pressure to start is the thing. Like when you see those baseball players, do a kind of pre throw before that really throw is they don't rush it in the heat of the moment. Just a real check with yourself that you've got the gist of idea.
This is such great info Ian. Ok I'll give it a try. I guess that's my problem I would spend too much time drawing, but yeah I can spare 5 minutes. ❤️🎨🙏🙏
Planning your painting beforehand seems to me basic, like tuning your guitar before you play. You can still be spontaneous once that is out of the way.
Also a good analogy George.
I think beginning and intermediate painters are sometimes influenced by the Hollywood portrayal of artists. It's an overworked trope and cliche depicting a temperamental artist moping around and suddenly being overtaken by a sudden burst of inspiration. He/she bounds up, grabs their materials, and feverishly starts slathering on the paint or whacking away at a block of marble.
Da Vinci and Michelangelo planned their works very carefully. For Michelangelo's 'David', he wasn't about to spend all the time and effort on a whim. Same with Leonardo. Careful planning down to the finest detail. They didn't fly by the seat of their pants.
I think it was Chuck Close said inspiration is for amateurs. So much more work goes on behind the scenes of most great art.
Ian when painting plein air, do you just go straight into painting after the sketching or should you still block in. thank you
I think my question is related to this one, for Ian. when you start your final painting, do you still do a sketch on the page? is it at about the same level of detail as the drawing that you did for the value study/thumbnail sketch?
I was wondering if you could talk about armatures. Especially the cruciform. How do you chose one? Does the scene fit an armature or does the armature fit the scene.
HI Catherine, thank you for bringing up the idea of armatures. I've have not talked about it ages. And in a way it is the foundation of my ideas on composition. For me the armature suggests the possibility that a scene could work. Without the armature, I might be attracted to stuff, but it is only with the armature that I would start to see how it works as a painting. I'll have to talk about it soon. Thanks.
Yes....my painting is better because Ive done some planning. The composition and placement on the canvas is much better.
Delighted it's helpful Connie.
Have you thought about making a painting course on patreon ? With lots of exercises for students ?
I actually have three online courses. Drawing, brushwork and color. I'll be announcing them in the new year.
When you use a grid do you use a certain program that you can input the size of your canvas so that your grid on your device matches the size of your work?
I just use the cropping feature in Photos on my Mac. When you crop the image it creates a grid of 1/3s and I take a screen shot of it then. There are programs and apps you can get that probably are easier.
@@IanRobertsMasteringComposition I know you have 1 million people to answer so I hate to ask you a second question. So if you have a 9 x 12 canvas do you just go into your photo editing and put in three-quarter ratio and then a grid for 3/4? Because depending on the size of your canvas that will completely change where the 1/3 line lands on your photo. So I would think you’d have to adjust your photo to the size of your canvas or the aspect ratio of your canvas. Maybe I’m answering my own question. But I find this kind of confusing.
What paper do you do your ketches on. I like watercolor paper but sometimes it’s to rough.
Hi Terry, I like a very smooth paper so the texture of the paper doesn't infer with laying down the value masses. Strathmore Bristol Smooth I like and Stonehenge Warm White is good too.
Ian, would you do the same preparation with a figurative painting or a portrait? Thank you, Sonja
Hi Sonja, I would. If I was just doing a portrait head maybe not but whole figures and figures in environments yes definitley.
Dear Ian Roberts could you please name us a good book for composition and basics?